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| Rumsfeld Tells Balkans NATO Door Is Open |
| 2004-06-19 |
| SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld encouraged Balkan nations to press on with their efforts to join NATO, saying Friday the alliance's door "remains open." In a letter sent to a regional defense ministers' meeting in Skopje, Macedonia's capital, Rumsfeld told NATO hopefuls Albania, Croatia and Macedonia that their ties with the alliance would be discussed at an upcoming NATO summit in Istanbul, Turkey. "Earlier this year, seven new members joined the NATO Alliance," Rumsfeld wrote. "The door remains open for others." Albania, Croatia and Macedonia last year signed the Adriatic Charter - a U.S.-backed initiative outlining a joint strategy for joining NATO. Since then, the three countries have begun implementing reforms and working to boost cooperation with each other and with other nations in the region, including war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Montenegro. In a joint statement Friday, the three nations' defense ministers expressed hope that NATO would "send a strong signal" at the June 28-29 summit that their countries would be asked to join the alliance "no later than 2007." The participants also pledged to support the U.S.-led war against terrorism and said they plan to send a joint medical team to work with the NATO mission in Afghanistan. "We are determined to continue supporting the global fight against terrorism in the future," Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski said. Also Friday, the president of neighboring Bulgaria, Georgi Parvanov, met with Crvenkovski and offered to help Macedonia's efforts for NATO and EU membership. Bulgaria and six other East European states joined the alliance earlier this year. "Bulgaria is several steps ahead of us in the Euro-Atlantic integrations and its experience is of great importance for us," Crvenkovski said. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
#2 Rumsfeld Tells Balkans NATO Door Is OpenAnd don't let it hit you in the ass on the way out. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-06-19 3:12:28 PM |
| #1 Pack them stands with ex-satellites, Rummy. |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-06-19 2:09:35 PM |