(NATO)
Brussels serves as the seat of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the defense organization formed by North Atlantic nations in 1949. The headquarters were located in London from 1949 to 1952 and then moved to Paris. Following the decision by France to withdraw from NATO's integrated military command structure in 1966, the headquarters of the alliance was formally relocated from Paris to Brussels on 18 October 1967. A staff totaling some 3,000 international civil servants work at the headquarters site, located in Evere adjacent to avenue Leopold III. The member nations are represented in Brussels by ambassadors accredited to NATO.
New offices for NATO are slated to be built on a 40-ha (99-acre) site directly opposite the current complex. Designed to meet the needs of an alliance expected to expand from 19 to 26 members, the glass-and-steel buildings are scheduled to be completed by 2008-2009.
Historical Dictionary of Brussels. Paul F. State.