March 6, 2008
NATO Foreign Ministers Discuss Balkans
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:14 a.m. ET
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) --
NATO foreign ministers Thursday expressed hope they will be able to invite three Balkan nations to join the alliance next month as part of efforts to stabilize the region after Kosovo's declaration of independence.
But a Greek dispute with Macedonia was threatening to scuttle the plans.
''For the sake of stability we should offer membership to Croatia, Macedonia and Albania,'' said German Frank-Walter Steinmeier, as he arrived for the NATO talks.
NATO ministers were also reviewing a ''vision statement'' on Afghanistan to be adopted by NATO leaders at the summit to redefine the West's goals in the fight against
Taliban and strengthen Europe's flagging public support for the 43,000 strong military mission.
The three Balkan nations -- Albania, Croatia and Macedonia -- are hoping to receive an invitation to join NATO at an alliance summit next month in Bucharest. NATO foreign ministers were expected to agree that they are ready to join.
However, Greece says the name of Macedonia, which broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991, implies a claim to its northern region with the same name. Athens has threatened to veto Macedonia's NATO aspirations, and
U.N.-led talks are under way to find a solution.
Increasing pressure on Greece, ministers said the name issue was the last barrier to the three countries joining: ''For the Balkans, there is no problem, obviously except the problem with Greece and Macedonia,'' said Luxembourg's Jean Asselborn.
Ministers were more wary about the prospects of Ukraine and Georgia, whose request for a road map to NATO membership has annoyed Russia.
Although NATO diplomats stressed Russia has no veto over the alliance's eastward expansion, officials said allies were unwilling to further antagonize Moscow when relations are already strained over Kosovo, missile defense and arms control in Europe.
U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice was cautious about Ukraine and Georgia, saying NATO should only open its doors to would-be members who are ready to join it.
Although new NATO members in eastern Europe have been pushing for a green light to Ukraine and Georgia, Germany's Steinmeier said he was ''skeptical'' they would be offered a NATO ''membership action plan'' at the April 2-4 summit in Bucharest.
Asselborn added that NATO's expansion plans had to take into account the ''strategic dimension'' and the regional ''balance'' at time when the West is sounding out the prospect of improved relations under Russia's President-elect
Dmitry Medvedev.
In Greece on Wednesday, U.N. mediator Matthew Nimetz said Greece and Macedonia are both displaying ''a great desire'' to solve the name dispute, but their positions remain apart.
Nimetz has proposed five alternative names that Macedonia could consider adopting: Constitutional Republic of Macedonia, Democratic Republic of Macedonia, Independent Republic of Macedonia, New Republic of Macedonia, and Republic of Upper Macedonia.
If Albania, Croatia and Macedonia get the invitation in Bucharest, it's expected to take at least two years before they join NATO.
Besides the three candidates, NATO also is expected to offer closer cooperation with Bosnia and Montenegro to prepare them for eventual membership.
Serbia could be offered a similar deal, but that is unlikely to make much progress while the government in Belgrade continues to reject Western overtures in order to protest leading NATO nations' recognition of Kosovo.
Also on Thursday, Britain expressed confidence that NATO will be able to find extra troops for Afghanistan in response to Canada's threat to pull out its contingent unless it gets more support.
''I'm confident that the nations in the coalition are going to stick together to ensure that we can all make the maximum contribution in Afghanistan in an effective way,'' British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told reporters as he arrived for talks with his NATO counterparts.
NATO officials stressed the meeting was not focused on raising more troops, but US Secretary of State Condoleezza also said on the eve of the talks that she was ''hopeful'' allies will contribute the 1,000 additional troops Canada has demanded to help it in southern Afghanistan.
