Referring Clues

• Org. expanding into Eastern Europe
• Org. with a secretary general
• Partnership for Peace grp.
• Kind of forces
• Org. involved in Bosnia
• Eisenhower held a 1950 post in it
• Warsaw Pact counterforce
• Body that includes SHAPE
• Alliance since 1949
• Expanding grp.
• Defense acronym
• Cold war force
• Like some forces in the Balkans
• Peace-keeping grp.
• Security grp.
• Its HQ is in Brussels
• Peacekeeping force in Bosnia
• Org. formed to contain Communism
• Brussels-based org.
• Cold war winner
• Expanding org.
• Like some peacekeepers
• Cold war defense grp.
• Britain's Lord Ismay was its first head
• Org. with a compass star as its symbol
• Org. for Lord Robertson
• Grp. with its HQ in Brussels
• Kind of commander
• Defense org. since 1949
• Much of Eur. is in it
• 1999 air strike authorizer
• Peacekeeping grp.
• Grp. with a secretary general
• Growing alliance
• Force in Eur.
• Grp. that spans an ocean
• Major alliance
• Defense grp.
• The U.S. is in it
• Defense grp. that includes Turkey
• Defense grp. since 1949
• Alliance acronym
• Grp. with forces
• Grp. that outlasted the Warsaw Pact
• Cold war side
• One side in the cold war
• It began in H.S.T.'s administration
• Like some troops
• Grp. founded in Washington on 4/4/1949
• Iceland is part of it: Abbr.
• Alliance since '49
• ___ forces
• Turkey club?
• Org. with troops
• It has ports in Port.
• Grp. conducting Operation Deny Flight
• Group with a secy. gen.
• Org. with peace-keeping forces
• Mil. alliance since 1949
• Spain joined it in 1982
• Brussels-based alliance
• Western alliance, for short
• Alliance with a Brussels H.Q.
• Partnership for Peace gp.
• Kosovo defense gp.
• Bosnia peacekeeping gp.
• Operation Allied Force gp.
• Defense gp. formed in 1949
• Brussels-based alliance (abbr.)
• Org. behind Operation Allied Force in 1999
• DDE's 1950 command
• Brussels-based gp.
• Western defense org.
• Gp. recently joined by Poland
• Western defense gp.
• Alliance headquartered in Brussels
• Forces in Kosovo
• 19-country gp.
• Defense gp. since 1949
• Gp. formed in 1949
• DDE's command, once
• Gp. headed by Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
• Intl. alliance since 1949
• Alliance since 1949 (abbr.)
• Taliban-fighting force (abbr.)
• Gp. headquartered in Brussels
• Kosovo peacekeepers
• Post WWII alliance
• Its H.Q. is in Brussels
• Org. that admitted the Baltic States in March 2004
• Alliance that now includes Slovakia and Slovenia
• Brussels-based intl. alliance
• Intl. group whose initials in English and French are reversed
• Western mil. alliance
• Port. is part of it
• Gp. with 26 members
• Cold War defense gp.
• Peacekeeping alliance
• The U.K. is a member of it
• Org. based in Belgium
• Org. that started with 12 members
• Gp. with headquarters in Brussels
• Its flag has a compass rose on it
• Brussels-based body
• Alb. and Cro. joined it 4/1/2009
• Peacekeeping gp.
• 59-yr.-old alliance
• Belg.-based peacekeepers
• Defense org.
• Peacekeeping org. since 1949
• 26-member defense gp.
• Belgium-based gp.
• Intl. peacekeeping gp.
• Warsaw Pact counterpart
• Partnership for Peace org.
• Intl. defense alliance
• See 36-Down
• Security agcy. since 1949
• Kosovo peacekeeping gp.
• Post-WWII grp.
• Western alliance
• Security org.
• Western pact
• US alliance
• Western alliance: Abbr.
• Pact acronym
• Defense org. since '49
• Defense-alliance acronym
• Brussels-based intl. group
• Western defense grp.
• Intl. group since 1949
• Brussels-based grp.
• Croatia joined it in '09
• Peacekeeping force source
• Post-WWII alliance
• 1949 milit. alliance
• Allied org.
• Peace gp. since 1949
• '49 alliance
• Alliance based in Brussels
• Postwar alliance
• Kosovo War force
• U.S./European force
• Alliance that includes the U.S.
• Alliance est. in 1949
• Defense grp. that includes the U.S.
• Brussels-based defense organization
• 1949 alliance org.
• 1949 alliance
• European defense assn.
• Western postwar alliance
• Org. formed on April 4, 1949
• Defense org. established in 1949
• Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's org.
• Western alliance formed in 1949
• Its members include Canada and Luxembourg
• Kosovo peacekeeping group
• Intl. defense org.
• Grp. that includes the U.S.
• Warsaw Pact's Cold War opponent
• 1949 peace org.
• Grp. including Luxembourg, Turkey and Italy
• European defense grp.
• Alliance est. 1949
• Cold war faction
• Its first leader was Lord Ismay, 1952-1957
• Org. with peacekeeping forces
• Defense alliance
• Intl. group with many generals
• Intl. defense gp.
• Lord Ismay was its first Sec. Gen.
• Defense grp. headquartered in Belgium
• Belg.-based peacekeeping gp.
• Intl. alliance
• Peacekeeping gp. since 1949
• Alliance formed under HST
• Military alliance gp.
• Military alliance gp. since 1949
• Security org. with bombers
• Post-WW2 alliance
• Gp. currently headed by ex-Danish PM Anders Rasmussen
• Defense gp.
• Def. alliance
• European defense org.
• Defense pact
• Gp. battling Somali pirates
• Strike authorizer
• Albania and Croatia are the last to have joined it (abbr.)
• Multi-nation defense gp.
• No-fly zone org.
• Defence org.
• Brussels-based defense gp.
• International defense org.
• 2011 Libyan arms embargo enforcement gp.
• Peacekeeping org.
• Defense gp. based in Brussels
• Org. HQ'd in Brussels
• Intl. defense group
• Treaty grp.
• Peacekeepers' org.
• Intl. group
• Peace-keeping org.
• Treaty acronym
• Large mil. alliance
• Mil. alliance
• Gp. with 26 nations
• Big mil. alliance
• 19-nation gp.
• Int'l alliance
• Gp. with a Brussels HQ
• The U.K. is in it, but Ire. is not
• USA alliance
• Berlin Plus agreement party (abbr.)
• Peacekeeping grp. since 1949
• International defense grp.
• Mil. alliance with official languages of English and French
• Grp. with an alphabet
• Defense group founded in 1949
• 1949 defense org.
• Group with forces
• N. Atlantic defence alliance
• Intl. peacekeeping group
• Alliance formed during HST's administration
• Cold War-era alliance
• Gp. that held a summit in Chicago in May of 2012
• Western alliance since 1949
• Atlantic defence org.
• Grp. headquartered in Brussels
• Turkey is part of it
• Warsaw Pact counterpart, once
• Grp. joined by Albania and Croatia in 2009
• Collective defense group
• Org. that added Albania and Croatia in 2009
• Gp. with forces
• It's HQ'd in Brussels
• Alliance born in the Cold War era
• Brussels grp.
• Peace-keeping gp.
• Defender of the West
• Turkey is a part of it
• Grp. whose initials in French are the reverse of its English initials
• Grp. with peacekeeping forces
• Grp. with forces in Afghanistan
• Group first headed by Ike
• International peacekeeping grp.
• Belg.-based alliance
• Brussels-based body, briefly
• Western alliance (4)
• Peacekeeping force
• W. alliance
• Military alliance that still doesn't include Russia
• 28-nation defense grp.
• Grp. whose members account for more than 50% of the world's defense spending
• Partnership for Peace pact (abbr.)
• Peacekeeping acronym
• Gp. that held the 2010 Lisbon summit
• Croatia joined it in 2009
• Group pledged to protect Eur.
• A US alliance
• Defense pact since 1949
• Intl. military alliance
• What 26 countries in Eur. belong to
• Its alphabet expands 10 answers (the letters spell a relevant phrase)
• Turkey club, for short?
• Treaty org.
• Multi-nation defense grp.
• Alliance formed in 1949
• Defense alliance formed in 1949
• North Atlantic defense org.
• U.S. force in Europe
• Cold war alliance
• 2014 Wales summit host
• Eur. nation
• Its flag is dark blue, symbolizing an ocean
• '49 defense alliance
• European bloc
• Defense org. formed in 1949
• U.S./European defense org.
• Icel. is its only member without a standing army
• Mediterranean dialogue grp.
• Western Hemisphere alliance: Abbr.
• Albania joined it in 2009
• Defense alliance since 1949
• Hastings Ismay was selected as its first leader in 1952
• Gp. joined by Croatia in 2009
• Defense alliance based in Brussels
• Defense group: abbr.
• A no-fly zone enforcer
• Org. celebrating 56 years in 2005
• Group with hdqrs. in Belgium
• Grp. that has added 12 members since the end of the Cold War
• Org. in Kosovo
• Defense alliance since 1949, for short
• Alliance HQ'd in Brussels
• Multi-national defense org.
• Alliance that keeps a wary eye on Russia
• International 30-Across
• Multi-country defense group
• Partnership for Peace international gp.
• Group with a secy.-gen.
• Transoceanic alliance since 1949
• Post-W.W. II alliance
• Gp. joined by Montenegro in 2017
• Brussels-based defense grp.
• Alliance with its HQ in Brussels
• Kind of alphabet
• Org. founded in 1949
• Treaty org. founded in 1949
• Peacekeeping group
• Peacekeeping group founded in 1949
• Grp. involved with Kosovo
• It now includes Lat. and Lith.
• Org. the USA is part of
• Org. once involved with Kosovo
• Cold War org.
• Gp. with a phonetic alphabet
• Org. formed in 1949
• Peace grp. since 1949
• 1949 military alliance
• Military alliance
• Military alliance, formed 1949
• Not a crazy organisation
• Mil. alliance based in Brussels
• The U.K. is in it
• Group with HQ in Brussels
• Org. whose French acronym is the reverse of the English
• Military bloc
• The senator's own alliance
• To an unholy alliance
• Org. celebrating 65 years in 2014
• What Croatia joined in 2009
• Grp. that Montenegro joined in June 2017
• Org. headquartered in Brussels
• North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
• European pact
• Initiate nuclear attack, taking out alliance
• Org. created in 1949
• '49 peacekeeping alliance
• Western alliance since 1949: Abbr.
• Military alliance headquartered in Belgium: Abbr.
• Turkey club?
• Intl. alliance with a phonetic alphabet
• International alliance
• Brussels-based mil. alliance
• Grp. aligned in 1949
• Org. led by Jens Stoltenberg
• Its alphabet goes from Alfa to Zulu
• European security org.
• 29-member org.
• 6 23 etc to call up among banal and pathetic plays
• ___ alphabet
• Alphabet providing the "ingredients" of this puzzle's soup
• European defence org.
• Western defense alliance
• Montenegro joined it in 2017
• Grp. founded by 12 countries
• Jens Stoltenberg is its secy. general
• Alliance joined by Montenegro in 2017
• It. is in it
• A UK alliance
• Alliance recently joined by Montenegro
• Atlantic assn.
• With 115-Across, communication system that's a hint to the answer to each starred clue
• Grp. joined by Montenegro in 2017
• Training Mission-Iraq medal awarder
• Alliance that France rejoined in '09
• Montenegro's grp. since 2017
• Grp. that Ronald Reagan once supported
• Western alliance acronym
• What Ike led after WWII
• Gp. based in Brussels
• Grp. whose alphabet starts Alfa, Bravo, Charlie ...
• Not a new acronym
• November Alpha Tango Oscar
• Alliance that includes the U.S. and U.K.
• Alliance with hdqrs. in Brussels
• Grp. with peacekeeping troops
• Brussels-based mil. alliance since 1949
• Grp. whose alphabet ends with "Zulu"
• Grp. founded to resist Communism
• Alliance based in Brussels: Abbr.
• A senator's organization
• Defense grp. that's an anagram of 40-Across
• US alliance with European nations
• Western union
• Org. with a phonetic alphabet
• Alliance formed in April 1949
• Grp. spelled using its own alphabet at the starts of 19-, 29-, 43- and 50-Across
• N. Macedonia is its newest member
• 30-country military grp.
• Grp. with peacekeeping operations
• Grp. with a phonetic alphabet
• Its alphabet includes delta
• Org. with an alphabet
• Alliance headed by Jens Stoltenberg: Abbr.
• International military grp.
• Grp. known as OTAN in France
• Group in which Iceland is the only member without an army
• Phonetic alphabet grp.
• North Macedonia joined it in 2020
• International grp. with a phonetic alphabet
• Thirty-country defense grp.
• Alphabet system in which "D" is 3-Down
• Gp. headed by Jens Stoltenberg
• Peacekeeping grp. with an alphabet
• Gp. whose alphabet includes Romeo and Juliett
• Finland joined it in 2023
• ___ phonetic alphabet
• "A is for Alfa" org.
• International peacekeeping force
• Intl. alliance joined by Finland in 2023
• International grp. with many European members
• The U.S. is its southernmost member
• Intl. peacekeeping alliance
• Gp. joined by Sweden in 2024
• Org. that Sweden joined in 2024
• Gp. with a compass rose emblem on its flag
• Grp. whose alphabet is used eight times in this puzzle
• Alliance of 32 nations
• Post-WWII transnational gp.
• Sweden joined it in 2024
• Gp. whose newest member is Sweden
• Alliance headed by Mark Rutte: Abbr.
• Post-WWII gp.
• Its alphabet starts with Alfa and ends with Zulu
• Org. with its own alphabet
• Iceland is its only member that doesn't have a standing army
• Grp. that Sweden joined in 2024
• Grp. joined by Finland in 2023 and Sweden in 2024