7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
November 21 2002 at 11:28 AM No score for this post
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Bulgarian workers fasten flags of NATO member countries in front of a statue of St. Sofia in central Sofia on November 20, 2002. Bulgaria, which once was the Soviet Union's closest ally within the communist bloc, is now among seven east European states expected to receive NATO entry invitations at the alliance's summit on November 21-22 in Prague. REUTERS/Dimitar Dilkoff http://www.bulgaria-nato.org/
Bulgaria and 6 Other Countries Invited to NATO Membership.
Prague, November 21 (BTA) - Bulgaria and six other candidate countries: Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Thursday received invitations to open negotiations on accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The decision on NATO's enlargement was announced by the organization's Secretary General George Robertson on the first day of the Alliance's Summit in Prague.
President Purvanov: "Prague Just First Step in Bulgaria's NATO Accession"
Sofia, November 21 (BTA) - "We should not assume that Bulgaria's accession to NATO ends in Prague. On the contrary, too much work remains to be done at the ratification stage," Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov said Thursday morning before leaving for the NATO Prague Summit at the head of the official Bulgarian delegation.
"The invitation is a good cause for gratification that Bulgaria's enhanced international prestige has been acknowledged, but it need not occasion needless fanfare and needless euphoria because, as we join the rich nations' club, we must realize that we have a lot more work to do to achieve their living standard," Purvanov said.
Replying to a question, the President said that after Bulgaria gets invited, he will be the first to give credit to everybody who have worked for that over the years: The Atlantic Club, former presidents Zhelyu Zhelev and Peter Stoyanov, former prime ministers Stefan Sofiyanski and Ivan Kostov, their foreign ministers and defence ministers, as well as those who reversed the mood in the Left part of the political spectrum and made possible a substantial public consensus on the subject of NATO.
Asked whether the US has invited Bulgaria to join a possible anti-Iraq coalition, Purvanov said that Iraq will be on the agenda in Prague. He added that Bulgaria will be among the countries contributing to a strict implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on Iraq's disarmament.
Prague, 21 November (STA) - Slovenia received an invitation to join NATO at Thursday's summit of the Alliance in Prague. Joining the organisation alongside Slovenia will be Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia, announced NATO Secretary General George Robertson.
After several years of negiotiations, the Slovak Republic has been invited to join NATO as a regular member at the summit in Prague. The representatives of 19 member states decided to send invitations to Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria.
The other three members of the Visegrad Four Group: the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland became the members of NATO after the 1997 Madrid summit. Slovakia's application has been rejected because of the government of Vladimir Meciar.
Prime Minister Adrian Nastase hails NATO's membership invitation to Romania.
Bucharest, Nov 21 /Rompres/ - Prime Minister Adrian Nastase on Thursday hailed the decision of the North-Atlantic Council in Prague to invite Romania to join NATO, rating the event as "historical and signifying Romania's final comeback to the Western family as a reliable and respected member."
"I want to voice my satisfaction over the adoption today, November 21, by the heads of state or government from the NATO member states of a decision to invite Romania to join NATO," said Nastase, pointing out that this historical decision is the outcome of continuing national efforts and the crowning of the wide national consensus on Romania's integration with NATO.
The Prague moment confirms the acknowledgement by the North Atlantic Alliance of the quantum leap of Romania over the past two years in economic, institutional and army reforms as well as in consolidating its capabilities for solidaristic action with NATO, said Nastase.
"We are closing today a circle of delays and we are together opening a new stage in the history of Romania. Full of hopes and optimism, we are opening the way for confirming Romania's status of a dignified nation in the Euro-Atlantic family," Nastase concluded.
Neljapäeval natuke enne kella 11 kutsus NATO peasekretär George Robertson Praha tippkohtumisel Eestit pidama liitumisläbirääkimisi NATO-ga.
Lisaks Eestile tehti kutse ka Lätile, Leedule, Slovakkiale, Sloveeniale, Rumeeniale ja Bulgaariale. Liitumise peavad heaks kiitma liikmesmaade parlamendid.
Prahas viibiva Eesti Päevalehe reporeri Kärt Karpa sõnul oli kohaliku aja järgi 9.53 tehtud kutse saamine ülimalt liigutav. Eest suursaadikul NATO juures, Sulev Kannikesel olid pisarad silmis ja hääl värises. "Ma ei suuda seda tunnet kirjeldadagi," ütles Kannike.
Eesti kaks välispoliitilist suureesmärki täituvad ilmselt 2004. aasta kevadel, sest siis saab riik tõenäoliselt täieõiguslikuks NATO liikmeks ning samal ajal liitub ilmselt Eesti ka Euroopa Liiduga.
NATO tunnustas Eestit kui võimalikku liikmekandidaati esmakordselt 1999. aastal Washingtoni tippkohtumisel.
Praegu on Põhja-Atlandi Lepingu Organisatsiooniga liikmed: Ameerika Ühendriigid, Belgia, Holland, Island, Itaalia, Kanada, Luksemburg, Norra, Portugal, Prantsusmaa, Taani, Suurbritannia, Kreeka, Türgi, Saksamaa, Hispaania, Poola, Tšehhi Vabariik ja Ungari.
Lisaks kollektiivse enesekaitse põhimõtte sätestamisele kohustuvad liikmesriigid üksikult ja ühiselt säilitama ja arendama oma kaitsevõimet, luues sellega aluse ühiskaitse planeerimisele.
Paplašinātajai aliansei jāspēj uzvarēt terorismu, uzskata ASV prezidents.
Ziemeļatlantijas alianse, kas piedzīvo lielāko paplašināšanu tās vēsturē, stāv būtisku reformu priekšā, kuru mērķis ir padarīt NATO spējīgu cīnīties pret visiem šā gadsimta jaunajiem draudiem brīvībai un drošībai, no kuriem bīstamākais ir terorisms. To, izklāstot savu vīziju par NATO nākotnes uzdevumiem, trešdien, uzsvēra ASV prezidents Džordžs V.Bušs, kurš uzrunāja paralēli alianses valstu galotņu sanāksmei Prāgā notiekošā Atlantiskā studentu sammita dalībniekus.
Viņš norādīja, ka ASV stingri atbalsta NATO paplašināšanu gan tagad, gan nākotnē. Dž.V. Bušs uzskata, ka alianses paplašināšana ir viena no būtiskākajām reformām alianses vēsturē, kuras rezultātā vairākiem miljoniem cilvēku tiks sniegta brīvība. Alianses paplašināšana, uzņemot tajā jaunas valstis, padarīs NATO vēl stiprāku, teica ASV prezidents.
Tāpat Dž.V.Bušs norādīja, ka Ziemeļatlantijas alianses paplašināšana prasa veikt reformas pašā aliansē un NATO ir jāuzlabo savas militārās spējas. «Lai cīnītos pret visiem šī gadsimta draudiem, sākot no teroristu nometnēm nomaļos reģionos līdz paslēptām laboratorijām ārpus likuma pasludinātos režīmos, NATO ir jāattīsta militārās spējas,» teica Dž.V.Bušs, norādot, ka šī iemesla dēļ daļai dalībvalstu vajadzēs palielināt savus izdevumus aizsardzības vajadzībām. Viņaprāt, aliansei jāpadara savus spēkus mobilākus, precīzākus, jāmodernizē to komandstruktūra.
Dž.V.Bušs arī norādīja, ka ASV ierosina jau Prāgā likt pamatus NATO ātrās reaģēšanas spēkiem. Tie būtu īpaši apmācīti un ekipēti jūras, gaisa un sauszemes spēki, kuri būtu spējīgi nekavējoties iesaistīties militārās operācijās arī ārpus Eiropas.
«Padomju savienība ir sabrukusi, taču brīvībai joprojām ir ienaidnieki,» teica ASV prezidents. Viņš uzsvēra, ka šodien pasaulē lielākie draudi brīvībai ir terorisms un «ārpus likuma» esošās valstis, kurām ir masu iznīcināšanas ieroči. ASV prezidents brīdināja, ka par šo režīmu mērķi var kļūt jebkura «brīvā valsts».
Kā vienu no lielākajiem draudiem brīvībai un drošībai nosaucot Sadama Huseina vadīto Irākas režīmu, Dž.V.Bušs arī izmantoja uzrunu studentiem, lai atkārtoti brīdinātu Bagdādi pilnībā sadarboties ar ANO ieroču inspektoriem.
Kā norādīja Dž.V.Bušs, visa pasaule būs ieguvēja no tā, ka Eiropa, paplašinot NATO, būs kļuvusi drošāka, pārliecinātāka un stabilāka un tās kopējo drošību vēl vairāk stiprinās demo-krātiskā Krievija. No NATO paplašināšanas, kā uzsvēra ASV prezidents, ieguvēja būs arī Krievija, jo tai rietumos tagad atradīsies stabilas un drošas valstis. Krievijai «nevajag buferzonu, bet mierīgus un draudzīgus kaimiņus,» norādīja Dž.V.Bušs, kurš pēc alianses sammita dosies uz sarunām ar Krievijas prezidentu Vladimiru Putinu Sanktpēterburgā. ASV prezidents arī uzsvēra nepieciešamību stiprināt NATO un Krievijas sadarbību.
Čekijos sostinėje - svarbių sprendimų priėmimo dienos.
Lietuvai - istorinė pergalė
Trečiadienį pasaulio lyderiai rinkosi į Čekijos sostinę Prahą, kurioje šiandien prasidės NATO aukščiausiojo lygio susitikimas. Tikimasi, kad jame į Aljansą bus pakviesta įstoti Lietuva, taip pat jos kaimynės Latvija ir Estija. Pakvietimo į NATO laukia ir Rumunija, Slovakija, Bulgarija bei Slovėnija.
Prezidentas Valdas Adamkus prieš išvykdamas į Prahą trečiadienį teigė, jog šalies pakvietimas į NATO bus istorinė pergalė, kuria užbaigiamas svarbus valstybės raidos etapas.
"Kvietimo įsijungti į NATO ginamą saugumo erdvę laukėme beveik dešimtmetį. Norėjome, kad ši diena ateitų greičiau, bet laukimo metų nepraleidome veltui", - sakė V.Adamkus.
Dėkojo lietuvių tautai
Anot V.Adamkaus, Lietuva sustiprėjo ir yra pakankamai brandi demokratinė valstybė, savo gyvenimą grindžianti bendromis Vakarų vertybėmis.
"Todėl rytoj Prahoje nebūsime atsitiktiniai pakeleiviai. Būsime atstovai šalies, kuri Vidurio ir Rytų Europoje tapo taikaus sugyvenimo ir tolerancijos pavyzdys, kuri ėmėsi lyderystės, telkdama būsimas NATO šalis - vadinamąjį Vilniaus dešimtuką", - pabrėžė V.Adamkus.
Pasak jo, Lietuva yra pasirengusi šias tradicijas tęsti.
"Lietuvos pripažinimas Prahoje - tai jūsų, mieli Lietuvos žmonės, nelengvo kasdienio darbo ir pastangų įvertinimas. Tai istorinė visų mūsų pergalė. Už ją iš širdies visiems dėkoju. Su ja kiekvieną jūsų sveikinu", - sakė V.Adamkus.
G.W.Bushas remia kandidates.
Jungtinių Valstijų prezidentas George'as W.Bushas buvo vienas pirmųjų NATO valstybių vadovų, atvykusių į Prahą.
Užvakar vėlai vakare į Prahą prezidento lėktuvu atskridęs JAV lyderis su žmona Laura Bush netrukus buvo išvežtas į neįvardytą vietą pailsėti po ilgos kelionės.
Kartu su G.W.Bushu į Prahą atvyko ir apie 700 saugumo pareigūnų bei Baltųjų rūmų atstovų. Dauguma jų apsigyveno viešbutyje "Hilton".
Vakar Amerikos prezidentas jau ėmėsi aktyvaus darbo. Pirmiausia jis susitiko su Čekijos prezidentu Vaclavu Havelu, su kuriuo aptarė būsimą NATO plėtrą.
Po susitikimo G.W.Bushas sakė, kad su Čekijos prezidentu jie sutarė, jog, Aljansui išsiplėtus, pasaulis pasidarys kur kas saugesnis.
"Rusija nėra mūsų priešas. Priešai yra tarptautiniai teroristai, kurie nekenčia laisvės. Tik drauge kovodami mes juos galime nugalėti, - sakė G.W.Bushas. - Aš remiu NATO kandidates, kurios daugelį metų nejautė laisvės skonio. Mes turime jas apginti ir paremti".
JAV prezidentas sakė, jog kiekviena šalis turi teisę pati nuspręsti, į kokį aljansą ar bloką stoti, ir toks sprendimas turi būti gerbiamas pasaulio bendruomenės.
JAV telkia sąjungininkus.
G.W.Bushas jau pačią pirmą dieną Prahoje prakalbo apie galimą karą prieš Iraką.
Jis pažadėjo pasitarti su sąjungininkėms dėl bet kokių karinių veiksmų prieš Saddamo Husseino režimą ir sakė esąs pasirengęs vadovauti koalicijai, jei Irakas atsisakys nusiginkluoti.
"Jeigu bus priimtas sprendimas panaudoti karinę jėgą prieš S.Husseino režimą, mes pasitarsime su savo draugais. Tikimės, kad draugai prisidės prie mūsų", - sakė G.W.Bushas.
JAV prezidento tvirtinimu, dėl NATO paramos atsirastų realesnių galimybių, jog Irako lyderis S.Husseinas supras naująją griežtą Jungtinių Tautų rezoliuciją ir atsisakys visų biologinių, cheminių ir branduolinių ginklų.
Ragino duris palikti atviras.
V.Havelas sakė, kad NATO narės turėtų garbingai ir nedelsdamos apsvarstyti savo, kaip Aljanso, įsipareigojimus bet kokio konflikto su Iraku atveju.
Kalbėdamas apie NATO plėtrą, V.Havelas sakė, kad Aljanso durys turi būti atvertos ir neutralioms valstybėms, pavyzdžiui, Austrijai, Suomijai, Švedijai, Airijai ir Šveicarijai.
Jis sakė, kad NATO po susitikimo Prahoje turėtų dar plėstis.
Sustiprintas saugumas.
Baiminantis galimų teroro išpuolių Prahoje buvo itin sustiprintas saugumas.
Čekijos oro erdvę nuo antradienio kontroliuoja ne tik šalies ginkluotųjų pajėgų naikintuvai, bet ir JAV karinės oro pajėgos.
Praha pasimokė iš 2000 metais per Tarptautinio valiutos fondo ir Pasaulio banko konferenciją vykusių riaušių, kai, nepaisant sustiprintų saugumo priemonių, šimtai anarchistų ir globalinės ekonomikos priešininkų nusiaubė parduotuves ir greito maisto užkandines.
NATO viršūnių susitikimo organizatorių teigimu, renginio saugumą užtikrins 12 tūkstančių policijos pareigūnų, trečdalis jų vilkės specialią aprangą riaušėms malšinti, kurios komplektas kainavo po 50 tūkstančių Čekijos kronų (5 tūkstančius litų).
Policija turės keturis šarvuočius, vienuolika autocisternų su vandens patrankomis, parengtyje budės keliasdešimt išminavimo ekspertų bei policininkai su tarnybiniais šunimis.
Čekijos teisėsaugininkai laukia atvykstant į Prahą 10-12 tūkstančių globalinės ekonomikos priešininkų, anarchistų, fašistų ir įvairių kitų radikalių organizacijos atstovų.
Ant bėgių rado bombą.
Tiesa, nepaisant tokio sustiprinto saugumo, incidentų nepavyko išvengti dar prieš istorinį susitikimą.
Antradienį Čekijos policija ant geležinkelio bėgių Prahoje aptiko nedidelę bombą. Bet vietos pareigūnai negalėjo patvirtinti, ar šis incidentas yra susijęs su NATO viršūnių susitikimu.
Čekijos policijos vyriausiasis komisaras Jiri Kolaras sakė, kad bombą sudarė butelis ir elektroninis laiko mechanizmas.
Geležinkelininkai rado užtaisą po to, kai suveikė signalizacija, pranešanti apie bėgio gedimą Kijės priemiestyje.
Mėgėjiškas sprogstamasis užtaisas buvo rastas toli nuo viršūnių susitikimo vietos, tačiau bomba drauge su sulaužytais bėgiais galėjo sukelti rimtą avariją.
NATO Heads of State and Government have formally invited seven new countries to join the Alliance: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
The decision was announced today at the opening session of a two-day Summit meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government in the Czech capital Prague, 21 and 22 November.
"This has been a hugely significant decision, for NATO, for these seven countries that we have just invited to start accession talks, and for the Euro-Atlantic Community," said NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson when announcing the decision.
The invited countries are expected to join NATO in 2004 .
This will be the fifth enlargement in the Alliance's history: Greece and Turkey joined in 1952; Germany in 1955; Spain in 1982; and the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland in 1999.
"Today's the invitees will not be the last. Through the MAP [Membership Action Plan] process, we will continue to help you pursue your reform process, and we remain committed to your full integration into the Euro-Atlantic family of nations," said the Secretary General in a message to those aspirant countries who were not invited to begin accession talks.
A meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government with the Heads of State and Government from the invited countries will be held today at 15:30 (GMT +1). The session will be webcast live at NATO Prague Summit website: www.nato.int/prague
In the course of the Summit, NATO Heads of State and Government are expected to take a number of far-reaching decisions on NATOs future roles and tasks.
NATO opens up to the East at historic summit to transform the military alliance.
By PAUL AMES, Associated Press Writer
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - In a historic eastward shift, NATO expands its membership beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union on Thursday amid a makeover designed to answer new threats of global terrorism.
The Western alliance which for decades confronted the U.S.S.R. across the barbed-wire divides of Central Europe will invite seven ex-communist countries under its security umbrella as part of reforms that U.S. President George W. Bush called the most significant in NATO's 53-year history.
Barely a decade since they regained independence from the Soviet Union, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania will join Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia in receiving a call to become NATO members at the alliance's first summit behind the old Iron Curtain.
Speaking to students in the Czech capital on the eve of the meeting, Bush said the new members would reinvigorate an alliance seeking to transform itself into a force to fight the dangers of terrorism and renegade governments armed with weapons of mass destruction rather than the threat of Cold War-era tank assaults.
"Those with fresh memories of tyranny know the value of freedom," Bush said Wednesday. "In Central and Eastern Europe, the courage and moral vision of prisoners and exiles and priests and playwrights caused tyrants to fall. ... This spirit is needed in the councils of a new Europe."
French President Jacques Chirac took up the theme, telling Czech television that the NATO expansion to be followed next month by a European Union decision to invite in eight former communist nations was "an affirmation that there can be no more splits in Europe."
NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson is scheduled to open the two-day summit by issuing the invitations to leaders of the new states, who then will join the meeting in the afternoon session, although they won't formally enter the alliance until May 2004.
As well as extending NATO's territory into the Balkans, Baltic states and Central Europe, leaders will approve a fundamental overhaul of the way the alliance does business and attempt to silence critics who say it has drifted into irrelevance in the post-Warsaw Pact, post-Sept. 11 world.
Among the decisions to be taken Thursday is one to pool crack troops in a 20,000-strong rapid response force to tackle threats anywhere around the world, burying NATO's old reluctance to act outside its established European and North Atlantic spheres of influence.
European allies also will pledge to beef up their outdated militaries with smart bombs, anti-germ warfare gear and heavy-lift planes to get troops and equipment to trouble spots quickly. NATO will also streamline its command structure under a U.S. general in a new post as strategic operational commander.
The aim is to give the alliance the flexibility to respond immediately to today's unpredictable dangers and close the gap between America's military might and European armies weakened by years of defense cuts.
"NATO has the strength and flexibility to defy its critics and to change, to undertake the tasks we all need in a complex and dangerous security environment," Robertson said Wednesday in a pre-summit address.
Bush stressed that the new NATO members will have to pull their own weight in the alliance like the Poles, Hungarians and Czechs who joined in 1999 as the first ex-communist members. But once in, they will enjoy the protection of the all-for-one, one-for-all security guarantees that come with membership.
"Anyone who would choose you for an enemy also chooses us for an enemy," Bush said. "Never again in the face of aggression will you stand alone."
Bush's speech was a strong affirmation of U.S. support for NATO, whose future has been questioned by critics in the United States after Washington declined to call on it for support during the war against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan last year.
Those same critics are now looking intently at the role if any that the alliance might play if the United States goes to battle against Iraq.
Although NATO is expected to issue a message of support for the U.N. weapons inspectors mission to Iraq, Bush indicated the U.S. would again be looking for a "coalition of the willing" for military support rather than turning to the alliance as a whole.
Bush warned that all members must pull their weight.
Nato leaders meeting in Prague have invited seven more countries to join the alliance in what will be the biggest expansion in its history.
The candidates - Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia - are due to become full members in 2004 swelling the alliance's membership to 26.
In what he called a defining moment, Nato Secretary General George Robertson said a "transformed Nato will be a stronger, more effective partner for all our friends" - even though many of the new members are bringing with them only small and poorly equipped armies.
US President George W Bush warned that all Nato members - both new and old - must contribute military strength to the alliance, even if it means increasing defence spending.
The BBC's Europe correspondent, Chris Morris, says that although the enlargement will be trumpeted as a sign of security and democracy in Europe, to some, it will be seen as proof that Nato is less a top-notch military alliance and more just a political club.
The Prague summit will also address reforming the organisation to deal with terrorism and to speed up Nato's response to conflicts.
The discussions will be overshadowed by debate about Iraq and by tough talk from President Bush that deception from Saddam Hussein will not be tolerated.
Mr Bush is expected to use the gathering to gauge other alliance members' willingness to use military force against Iraq.
Warm welcome.
In their opening statements, however, leaders focused on the enlargement process.
"Aspirant countries have been working hard to modernise and reform," Lord Robertson said. "It is a reflection of their political determination to join Nato that they have met this challenge. We have been working to ensure that Nato itself is ready to enlarge."
Mr Bush said accepting new members "will not only add to our military capability, it will refresh the spirit of this great democratic alliance. It reinforces the commitment to a Europe which is free and at peace".
He aimed to sooth Russian concerns about its neighbours becoming members of the organisation which once opposed the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Three former Soviet republics - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - became Nato members on Thursday.
"A larger Nato is good for Russia as well... [Russia] too will gain from the stability and security of nations to its west," he said.
He stressed the United States' commitment to Nato - which some have doubted under the Bush administration - describing the alliance as his country's "most important global relationship".
US fighters are boosting security for the summit.
Bush's priorities.
Mr Bush said that as Nato expanded, the organisation had to develop new capabilities - and that would mean all countries had to make their defence spending more effective.
He said that Nato's options when forces were needed quickly in Afghanistan had been "limited" and said a highly equipped special response force constantly ready for deployment should be set up.
"Every member must make a military contribution to this alliance," Mr Bush said.
"Never has our need for collective defence been more urgent," he said.
He highlighted several capabilities which Nato particularly required, including:
Being better able to fight side-by-side.
Being more mobile and able to be more swiftly deployed.
Having more special operations forces and better precision strike capabilities.
Having a more modern command structure.
Mr Bush said efforts to set up a rapid response force consisting of highly equipped air, ground and sea forces should begin at the Prague summit.
The unit would comprise 21,000 combat-ready troops able to be deployed quickly to trouble spots around the world and play a key role in the US-led war on terror. It could be operational by 2004.
PRAGUE: Security was ratchet-tight in Prague on Wednesday as Nato leaders began arriving for a landmark summit, with security forces on high alert for the joint threats of terrorism and anti-war protestors.
Helicopters buzzed overhead around the fortress-like congress centre where the 19-member alliance is due to meet Thursday and Friday. US President George W Bush arrived in the Czech capital late Tuesday.
US airforce fighter jets are also overflying Prague, while the discovery of a bomb on Tuesday was also adding to jitters surrounding the summit, which is due to approve Nato's expansion and also discuss the global war on terrorism.
"The possibility of a terrorist attack cannot be ruled out, but the chances are slim," according to a report by US State Department analysts prepared for US businesses operating in the Czech capital.
The US report said the chances of violent demonstrations by anti-Nato activists, particularly anarchists, had increased, noting that Czech police last week foiled an anarchist plot to disrupt power to various summit venues.
Delegates and journalists arriving for the gathering faced multiple checkpoints and metal detectors before being allowed in to the summit venue.
Some 16,500 police and soldiers are deployed to protect over 40 heads of state and government and dozens of ministers attending the meeting,, the first such gathering behind the former Iron Curtain.
Czech authorities on Tuesday discovered a bomb on a railroad track in a Prague suburb that police defused just hours before Bush arrived in the capital, where he was holding bilateral talks Wednesday.
Interior Minister Stanislav Gross said the discovery had prompted the reinforcement of already stringent security measures but could not say whether the bomb had any connection with the summit or with Bush's arrival.
Some 12,000 protesters are thought to be girding for demonstrations during the summit, according to the US report.
Police have spent 20 million euros (dollars) equipping their anti-riot sections with new vehicles and protective clothing.
In order to discourage people from the city centre, authorities have urged them to take an early long weekend. Many schools will be shut. Shopping centres on the outskirts of Prague have been asked to organise special promotions to draw bargain-hunting shoppers.
The Czech army is supplying armoured vehicles, helicopters, teams of bomb disposal experts and even anti-chemical weapons specialists, the defence ministry said, as well as providing doctors, drivers and bodyguards.
But the government admits that its air force is unable to completely protect its air space, so it has called in help; form the US, which is mobilising some 15 F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, two in-flight refuelling aircraft, an AWACS surveillance plane and 250 military personnel.
Czech and US forces have already simulated scenarios involving, for example, the destruction of a hijacked plane.
Czech President Vaclav Havel warned against exaggerating the security threat at the summit in Prague, where anti-globalization protestors caused mayhem at a meeting of the World Bank and the IMF two years ago.
"Are we meeting for an important international meeting... or for war?" he asked in an opinion piece in the English-language Prague Post weekly.
MACEDONIAN DELEGATION PARTICIPATES AT NATO SUMMIT IN PRAGUE.
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November 21 2002, 4:26 PM
MACEDONIAN DELEGATION PARTICIPATES AT NATO SUMMIT IN PRAGUE.
MIA
The meeting of North Atlantic Council officially opened Thursday the NATO Summit in Prague. Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia have been formally invited to become the new countries to join the Alliance.
"The NATO decision for enlargement is a great historical event which means promotion of peace, stability and democracy in Europe. And the decision for inviting Bulgaria and Romania to join NATO is very important for us because NATO enlarges in the South Eastern Europe, which will have additional contribution for stability of our region," is the position of the President of the Republic of Macedonia Boris Trajkovski regarding the NATO Summit.
Borjan Jovanovski, the Spokesperson of the President, said that with the decision of the Alliance for enlargement and NATO efforts for continuation of the policy of open doors, the Macedonian President considers that this event will discourage all extremist - political structures with anachronistic political agendas that have any dilemmas regarding the future of Macedonia.
On an initiative of President Trajkovski a trilateral meeting with the Presidents of Croatia and Albania, Stipe Mesic and Alfred Moisiu, will take place, MIA's special correspondent reports. Trajkovski will propose concrete ideas for development of the regional co-operation aimed at enlargement of the mutual co-operation in the fight against organised crime, improved border protection and reforms in defence in direction to concordance of the co-operation.
An agreement for joint presentation of Macedonia, Croatia and Albania in the NATO structures will be initiated in the talks Trajkovski-Mesic-Moisiu. Minister of Foreign Affairs Ilinka Mitreva and Defence Minister Vlado Buckovski will hold trilateral meetings with their colleagues from Croatia and Albania.
Today, the Macedonian President Thursday will address the leader's forum organised by Radio Free Europe. He will present Macedonia's position for enlargement of the Alliance, stressing the urge of the country to become a member in the next round of NATO enlargement.
Trajkovski will deliver the formal request for extension of NATO mission in Macedonia to NATO Secretary General George Robertson. The Ministers Mitreva and Buckovski will also attend this meeting. What has NATO offered to Macedonia in relation to the new mission corresponds with the position of President Trajkovski for the need of international presence after December 15, 2002 and it is the mandate which will assist in further stabilisation of the country, will offer assistance in more efficient border control and most important - will help in intensifying of Macedonia's integration in NATO.
The main topic for discussing at a meeting with Robertson will be the further process of Macedonia's integration with NATO whereat President Trajkovski will present his commitment for Macedonia to join the Alliance in the next enlargement round.
Today, Trajkovski will meet with his Polish counterpart Aleksander Kwasniewski and the Presidents of the Vilnius Group member-countries. The Vilnius Group at this meeting is expected to confirm its basic principle upon which it was founded in Riga 2000 and that is solidarity and mutual co-operation until all countries from this group become full-fledged members of NATO.
Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva, besides the trilateral meeting with Tonino Picula and Ilir Meta, Thursday will also hold bilateral meeting with the Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis.
Today, Macedonian Defense Minister Vlado Buckovski had a meeting with his Albanian counterpart Pandeli Majko, focused on the possibilities for enhancement of the cooperation between the two ministries, because, as both defense ministers assessed, it would stabilize the situation wider in the region.
The Macedonian and the Albanian defense ministers also talked about the International conference for border control which is due to take place in March of 2003.
The two delegations agreed that experts' teams from the ministries of defense of the two countries should meet to exchange experiences on the restructuring of the armies, a process that is ongoing in both countries, as well as on the preparations for NATO membership that Macedonia and Albania are making.
Buckovski and Majko said that soon they would review the possibility for opening of temporary border crossings at the Macedonian-Albanian border and they hailed the NATO initiative to establish joint training center for the members of the two armies.
Majko accepted the invitation to pay a visit to Macedonia.
Issued by the Heads of State and Government
participating in the meeting
of the North Atlantic Council in Prague
on 21 November 2002
We, the Heads of State and Government of the member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, met today to enlarge our Alliance and further strengthen NATO to meet the grave new threats and profound security challenges of the 21st century. Bound by our common vision embodied in the Washington Treaty, we commit ourselves to transforming NATO with new members, new capabilities and new relationships with our partners. We are steadfast in our commitment to the transatlantic link; to NATOs fundamental security tasks including collective defence; to our shared democratic values; and to the United Nations Charter.
Today, we have decided to invite Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to begin accession talks to join our Alliance. We congratulate them on this historic occasion, which so fittingly takes place in Prague. The accession of these new members will strengthen security for all in the Euro-Atlantic area, and help achieve our common goal of a Europe whole and free, united in peace and by common values. NATOs door will remain open to European democracies willing and able to assume the responsibilities and obligations of membership, in accordance with Article 10 of the Washington Treaty.
Recalling the tragic events of 11 September 2001 and our subsequent decision to invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, we have approved a comprehensive package of measures, based on NATOs Strategic Concept, to strengthen our ability to meet the challenges to the security of our forces, populations and territory, from wherever they may come. Today's decisions will provide for balanced and effective capabilities within the Alliance so that NATO can better carry out the full range of its missions and respond collectively to those challenges, including the threat posed by terrorism and by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.
We underscore that our efforts to transform and adapt NATO should not be perceived as a threat by any country or organisation, but rather as a demonstration of our determination to protect our populations, territory and forces from any armed attack, including terrorist attack, directed from abroad. We are determined to deter, disrupt, defend and protect against any attacks on us, in accordance with the Washington Treaty and the Charter of the United Nations. In order to carry out the full range of its missions, NATO must be able to field forces that can move quickly to wherever they are needed, upon decision by the North Atlantic Council, to sustain operations over distance and time, including in an environment where they might be faced with nuclear, biological and chemical threats, and to achieve their objectives. Effective military forces, an essential part of our overall political strategy, are vital to safeguard the freedom and security of our populations and to contribute to peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic region. We have therefore decided to:
Create a NATO Response Force (NRF) consisting of a technologically advanced, flexible, deployable, interoperable and sustainable force including land, sea, and air elements ready to move quickly to wherever needed, as decided by the Council. The NRF will also be a catalyst for focusing and promoting improvements in the Alliances military capabilities. We gave directions for the development of a comprehensive concept for such a force, which will have its initial operational capability as soon as possible, but not later than October 2004 and its full operational capability not later than October 2006, and for a report to Defence Ministers in Spring 2003. The NRF and the related work of the EU Headline Goal should be mutually reinforcing while respecting the autonomy of both organisations.
Streamline NATOs military command arrangements. We have approved the Defence Ministers report providing the outline of a leaner, more efficient, effective and deployable command structure, with a view to meeting the operational requirements for the full range of Alliance missions. It is based on the agreed Minimum Military Requirements document for the Alliances command arrangements. The structure will enhance the transatlantic link, result in a significant reduction in headquarters and Combined Air Operations Centres, and promote the transformation of our military capabilities. There will be two strategic commands, one operational, and one functional. The strategic command for Operations, headquartered in Europe (Belgium), will be supported by two Joint Force Commands able to generate a land-based Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) headquarters and a robust but more limited standing joint headquarters from which a sea-based CJTF headquarters capability can be drawn. There will also be land, sea and air components. The strategic command for Transformation, headquartered in the United States, and with a presence in Europe, will be responsible for the continuing transformation of military capabilities and for the promotion of interoperability of Alliance forces, in cooperation with the Allied Command Operations as appropriate. We have instructed the Council and Defence Planning Committee, taking into account the work of the NATO Military Authorities and objective military criteria, to finalise the details of the structure, including geographic locations of command structure headquarters and other elements, so that final decisions are taken by Defence Ministers in June 2003.
Approve the Prague Capabilities Commitment (PCC) as part of the continuing Alliance effort to improve and develop new military capabilities for modern warfare in a high threat environment. Individual Allies have made firm and specific political commitments to improve their capabilities in the areas of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defence; intelligence, surveillance, and target acquisition; air-to-ground surveillance; command, control and communications; combat effectiveness, including precision guided munitions and suppression of enemy air defences; strategic air and sea lift; air-to-air refuelling; and deployable combat support and combat service support units. Our efforts to improve capabilities through the PCC and those of the European Union to enhance European capabilities through the European Capabilities Action Plan should be mutually reinforcing, while respecting the autonomy of both organisations, and in a spirit of openness.
We will implement all aspects of our Prague Capabilities Commitment as quickly as possible. We will take the necessary steps to improve capabilities in the identified areas of continuing capability shortfalls. Such steps could include multinational efforts, role specialisation and reprioritisation, noting that in many cases additional financial resources will be required, subject as appropriate to parliamentary approval. We are committed to pursuing vigorously capability improvements. We have directed the Council in Permanent Session to report on implementation to Defence Ministers.
Endorse the agreed military concept for defence against terrorism. The concept is part of a package of measures to strengthen NATOs capabilities in this area, which also includes improved intelligence sharing and crisis response arrangements.
Terrorism, which we categorically reject and condemn in all its forms and manifestations, poses a grave and growing threat to Alliance populations, forces and territory, as well as to international security. We are determined to combat this scourge for as long as necessary. To combat terrorism effectively, our response must be multi-faceted and comprehensive.
We are committed, in cooperation with our partners, to fully implement the Civil Emergency Planning (CEP) Action Plan for the improvement of civil preparedness against possible attacks against the civilian population with chemical, biological or radiological (CBR) agents. We will enhance our ability to provide support, when requested, to help national authorities to deal with the consequences of terrorist attacks, including attacks with CBRN against critical infrastructure, as foreseen in the CEP Action Plan.
Endorse the implementation of five nuclear, biological and chemical weapons defence initiatives, which will enhance the Alliance's defence capabilities against weapons of mass destruction: a Prototype Deployable NBC Analytical Laboratory; a Prototype NBC Event Response team; a virtual Centre of Excellence for NBC Weapons Defence; a NATO Biological and Chemical Defence Stockpile; and a Disease Surveillance system. We reaffirm our commitment to augment and improve expeditiously our NBC defence capabilities.
Strengthen our capabilities to defend against cyber attacks.
Examine options for addressing the increasing missile threat to Alliance territory, forces and population centres in an effective and efficient way through an appropriate mix of political and defence efforts, along with deterrence. Today we initiated a new NATO Missile Defence feasibility study to examine options for protecting Alliance territory, forces and population centres against the full range of missile threats, which we will continue to assess. Our efforts in this regard will be consistent with the indivisibility of Allied security. We support the enhancement of the role of the WMD Centre within the International Staff to assist the work of the Alliance in tackling this threat.
We reaffirm that disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation make an essential contribution to preventing the spread and use of WMD and their means of delivery. We stress the importance of abiding by and strengthening existing multilateral non-proliferation and export control regimes and international arms control and disarmament accords.
Admitting Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia as new members will enhance NATOs ability to face the challenges of today and tomorrow. They have demonstrated their commitment to the basic principles and values set out in the Washington Treaty, the ability to contribute to the Alliances full range of missions including collective defence, and a firm commitment to contribute to stability and security, especially in regions of crisis and conflict. We will begin accession talks immediately with the aim of signing Accession Protocols by the end of March 2003 and completing the ratification process in time for these countries to join the Alliance at the latest at our Summit in May 2004. During the period leading up to accession, the Alliance will involve the invited countries in Alliance activities to the greatest extent possible. We pledge our continued support and assistance, including through the Membership Action Plan (MAP). We look forward to receiving the invitees timetables for reforms, upon which further progress will be expected before and after accession in order to enhance their contribution to the Alliance.
We commend Albania for its significant reform progress, its constructive role in promoting regional stability, and strong support for the Alliance. We commend the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 1 for the significant progress it has achieved in its reform process and for its strong support for Alliance operations, as well as for the important steps it has made in overcoming its internal challenges and advancing democracy, stability and ethnic reconciliation. We will continue to help both countries, including through the MAP, to achieve stability, security and prosperity, so that they can meet the obligations of membership. In this context, we have also agreed to improve our capacity to contribute to Albanias continued reform, and to further assist defence and security sector reform in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia through the NATO presence. We encourage both countries to redouble their reform efforts. They remain under consideration for future membership.
Croatia, which has made encouraging progress on reform, will also be under consideration for future membership. Progress in this regard will depend upon Croatias further reform efforts and compliance with all of its international obligations, including to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
The Membership Action Plan will remain the vehicle to keep aspirants progress under review. Todays invitees will not be the last.
The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) and the Partnership for Peace (PfP) have greatly enhanced security and stability throughout the Euro-Atlantic area. We have today decided to upgrade our cooperation with the EAPC/PfP countries. Our political dialogue will be strengthened, and Allies, in consultation with Partners, will, to the maximum extent possible, increase involvement of Partners, as appropriate, in the planning, conduct, and oversight of those activities and projects in which they participate and to which they contribute. We have introduced new practical mechanisms, such as Individual Partnership Action Plans, which will ensure a comprehensive, tailored and differentiated approach to the Partnership, and which allow for support to the reform efforts of Partners. We encourage Partners, including the countries of the strategically important regions of the Caucasus and Central Asia, to take advantage of these mechanisms. We welcome the resolve of Partners to undertake all efforts to combat terrorism, including through the Partnership Action Plan against Terrorism. We will also continue to further enhance interoperability and defence-related activities, which constitute the core of our partnership. Participation in the PfP and the EAPC could be broadened in the future to include the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina once necessary progress is achieved, including full cooperation with the ICTY.
We welcome the significant achievements of the NATO-Russia Council since the historic NATO-Russia Summit meeting in Rome. We have deepened our relationship to the benefit of all the peoples in the Euro-Atlantic area. NATO member states and Russia are working together in the NATO-Russia Council as equal partners, making progress in areas such as peacekeeping, defence reform, WMD proliferation, search and rescue, civil emergency planning, theatre missile defence and the struggle against terrorism, towards our shared goal of a stable, peaceful and undivided Europe. In accordance with the Founding Act and the Rome Declaration, we are determined to intensify and broaden our cooperation with Russia.
We remain committed to strong NATO-Ukraine relations under the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership. We note Ukraines determination to pursue full Euro-Atlantic integration, and encourage Ukraine to implement all the reforms necessary, including as regards enforcement of export controls, to achieve this objective. The new Action Plan that we are adopting with Ukraine is an important step forward; it identifies political, economic, military and other reform areas where Ukraine is committed to make further progress and where NATO will continue to assist. Continued progress in deepening and enhancing our relationship requires an unequivocal Ukrainian commitment to the values of the Euro-Atlantic community.
We reaffirm that security in Europe is closely linked to security and stability in the Mediterranean. We therefore decide to upgrade substantially the political and practical dimensions of our Mediterranean Dialogue as an integral part of the Alliances cooperative approach to security. In this respect, we encourage intensified practical cooperation and effective interaction on security matters of common concern, including terrorism-related issues, as appropriate, where NATO can provide added value. We reiterate that the Mediterranean Dialogue and other international efforts, including the EU Barcelona process, are complementary and mutually reinforcing.
NATO and the European Union share common strategic interests. We remain strongly committed to the decisions made at the Washington Summit and subsequent Ministerial meetings, in order to enhance NATO-EU cooperation. The success of our cooperation has been evident in our concerted efforts in the Balkans to restore peace and create the conditions for prosperous and democratic societies. Events on and since 11 September 2001 have underlined further the importance of greater transparency and cooperation between our two organisations on questions of common interest relating to security, defence, and crisis management, so that crises can be met with the most appropriate military response and effective crisis management ensured. We remain committed to making the progress needed on all the various aspects of our relationship, noting the need to find solutions satisfactory to all Allies on the issue of participation by non-EU European Allies, in order to achieve a genuine strategic partnership.
To further promote peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic Area, NATO will continue to develop its fruitful and close cooperation with the OSCE, namely in the complementary areas of conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.
The Alliance has played a vital role in restoring a secure environment in South-East Europe. We reaffirm our support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all the countries in this strategically important region. We will continue to work with our partners in SFOR and KFOR, the United Nations, the European Union, the OSCE and other international organisations, to help build a peaceful, stable and democratic South-East Europe, where all countries assume ownership of the process of reform, and are integrated in Euro-Atlantic structures. We remain determined to see that goal become reality. We expect the countries of the region: to continue to build enduring multi-ethnic democracies, root out organised crime and corruption and firmly establish the rule of law; to cooperate regionally; and to comply fully with international obligations, including by bringing to justice in The Hague all ICTY indictees. The reform progress that these countries make will determine the pace of their integration into Euro-Atlantic structures. We confirm our continued presence in the region and we stand ready to assist these countries in the region, through individual programmes of assistance, to continue their progress. In the light of continuing progress and analysis of the prevailing security and political environment, we will explore options for a further rationalisation and force restructuring, taking into account a regional approach. We welcome the successful conclusion of Operation Amber Fox in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. We have agreed to maintain a NATO presence from 15 December for a limited period to contribute to continuing stability, which we will review in the light of the evolving situation. We note the EUs expressed readiness to take over the military operation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia under appropriate conditions.
NATO member countries have responded to the call of the UN Security Council to assist the Afghan government in restoring security in Kabul and its surroundings. Their forces constitute the backbone of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. We commend the United Kingdom and Turkey for their successive contributions as ISAF lead nations, and welcome the willingness of Germany and the Netherlands jointly to succeed them. NATO has agreed to provide support in selected areas for the next ISAF lead nations, showing our continued commitment. However, the responsibility for providing security and law and order throughout Afghanistan resides with the Afghans themselves.
We remain committed to the CFE Treaty and reaffirm our attachment to the early entry into force of the Adapted Treaty. The CFE regime provides a fundamental contribution to a more secure and integrated Europe. We welcome the approach of those non-CFE countries, which have stated their intention to request accession to the Adapted CFE Treaty upon its entry into force. Their accession would provide an important additional contribution to European stability and security. We welcome the significant results of Russias effort to reduce forces in the Treatys Article V area to agreed levels. We urge swift fulfilment of the outstanding Istanbul commitments on Georgia and Moldova, which will create the conditions for Allies and other States Parties to move forward on ratification of the Adapted CFE Treaty.
As NATO transforms, we have endorsed a package of measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the headquarters organisation. The NATO+ Initiative on human resources issues complements this effort. We are committed to continuing to provide, individually and collectively, the resources that are necessary to allow our Alliance to perform the tasks that we demand of it.
We welcome the role of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in complementing NATO's efforts to project stability throughout Europe. We also appreciate the contribution made by the Atlantic Treaty Association in promoting better understanding of the Alliance and its objectives among our publics.
We express our deep appreciation for the gracious hospitality extended to us by the Government of the Czech Republic.
Our Summit demonstrates that European and North American Allies, already united by history and common values, will remain a community determined and able to defend our territory, populations and forces against all threats and challenges. For over fifty years, NATO has defended peace, democracy and security in the Euro-Atlantic area. The commitments we have undertaken here in Prague will ensure that the Alliance continues to play that vital role into the future.
Turkey recognises the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.
Bulgaria Opens First Round of Talks on NATO Accession.
Sofia, January 10 (Assen Boyadjiev of BTA) - On January 10 in Brussels Bulgaria opens the first round of talks on accession to NATO. The talks will cover political, economic, defence issues and military cooperation.
The country's position on the defence and military matters for this first session has been approved by the Defence Council.
Bulgaria's readiness for the negotiations tops the agenda of a session of the National Security Consultative Council summoned by the President on Thursday.
The second round of talks is scheduled for February 10 and will include legal matters, financing, security and protection of NATO classified information.
After each session the leader of the negotiating team will report to the Government.
Between the two rounds of talks Bulgaria will press on with the reforms in compliance with its Membership Action Plan. A schedule for the reforms to the spring of 2004 will be prepared shortly, and will be presented in the 19+1 format in March, when the accession protocol is expected to be signed.
April 2003 to March 2004 is the period for ratification of the accession protocol by the legislature of the 19 member states, after which the document will be submitted in Washington.
Meanwhile Bulgaria will hold consultations on the implementation of the reform schedule.
An official invitation for accession to the 1949 Washington Treaty, NATOŅs founding charter, is expected in late March 2004. The document will then be ratified by the Bulgarian Parliament and forwarded to the US State Department.
Bulgaria and another six countries were invited to join NATO during the Alliance Summit in Prague November 21.
On December 28 the Council of Ministers approved the mandate and lineup of an extended negotiating team and appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Ljubomir Ivanov as its leader. The other members of the team are representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Internal Affairs, Justice and Finance, the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army, the State Commission on Information Security and the Bulgarian mission to NATO in Brussels.
The government has also approved the main points on which the country's position during the talks will rest. Among them is a declaration of acceptance of the obligations and commitments of membership as laid out in the Washington Treaty and the effective accession documents making the body of the NATO policy, confirmation of the countryŅs intent to participate in the defence planning system and the defence structure, support for the "open door" policy of the Alliance as enshrined in the Washington Treaty and the declarations of the summit meetings in Madrid, Washington and Prague.
NATO Expert Group Sees no Obstacles in Slovenia's Incorporation in NATO Structures.
Ljubljana, 09 January (STA) - Slovenia's defence reform is well underway and there are no particular problems in the country's achieving of NATO partnership goals, NATO expert group found after wrapping up its four-day visit to Slovenia on Thursday. During the visit the group held discussions with Slovenia's Defence Ministry.
This message has been edited by TsarSamuil from IP address 212.181.9.227 on Jan 10, 2003 1:15 PM
At the Prague Summit, 21-22 November 2002, NATO Heads of State and Government invited seven countries to begin accession talks to join the Alliance.
This is the beginning of the accession process, at the end of which the seven invited countries should formally become members of the Alliance. The whole process is expected to be completed by May 2004, and is described below, step-by-step.
Step 1 Accession and reform talks Dec. 2002 -
Mar. 2003
The accession talks are a series of meetings between a team of NATO experts and individual invitees to discuss and formally confirm their interest, willingness and ability to meet the political, legal and military obligations and commitments of NATO membership. This will include also their contribution to NATOs budgets.
The accession talks cover the formal obligations of NATO membership. Apart from this, NATO experts will discuss with the invitees specific issues and reforms upon which further progress will be expected before and after accession in order to enhance their contribution to the Alliance.
The end product of these discussions will be a timetable to be submitted by each invitee for the completion of these reforms, many of which may continue even after these countries have become NATO members.
The meetings will take place at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
Step 2 Invitees send letters of intent to NATO Jan. 2003 -
Mar. 2003
Foreign ministers of the invited countries send to NATO letters of intent confirming their interest, willingness and ability to join the Alliance. Together with the letters they will submit their timetables for completion of reforms.
Step 3 Accession protocols are prepared March 2003
NATO will prepare accession protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty for each one of the invited countries. They are expected to be signed by NATO member countries in March 2003. These accession protocols are formal legal documents, which once signed and ratified by Allies, will permit the invited countries to become parties to the North Atlantic Treaty.
Step 4 Accession protocols are ratified by NATO countries 2003-2004
After having signed the accession protocols, NATO member countries will ratify, accept or approve the protocols, according to their national requirements and procedures.
Once the ratification process is complete, the NATO Secretary General will invite the prospective new members to become parties to the North Atlantic Treaty.
Step 5 Invitees become NATO members planned
at the latest
by May 2004
After having followed applicable national procedures (discussion in parliament, vote in parliament, etc.), the invited countries will deposit their instruments of accession with the United States (the United States Department of State is the depository), and formally become parties to the North Atlantic Treaty and thus members of NATO.
The whole process is to be completed in time for these countries to join the Alliance at the latest at the next NATO Summit in May 2004.
Comprehensive Constitutional Changes Open Door to Accession to EU, NATO.
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February 27 2003, 2:47 PM
Comprehensive Constitutional Changes Open Door to Accession to EU, NATO.
Ljubljana, 27 February (STA) - In a 71 to 8 vote, MPs have adopted a constitutional bill changing the first chapter of the Constitution as well as Articles 47 and 68, forming the constitutional foundation of Slovenia's integration into international organisations and defence alliances. 79 lawmakers were presented at Thursday's session.
Representatives of the 19 NATO member countries today signed Protocols of Accession, which once ratified by the Allies, will allow seven new states to join NATO.
The accession protocols are amendments to the North Atlantic Treaty, NATOs founding document, that will permit the seven invited countries - Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia - to become parties to the Treaty and members of NATO.
Foreign ministers of the invited countries attended a special session of the North Atlantic Council, NATOs top decision-making body, at NATO Headquarters for the signing ceremony.
One step closer to changing history.
In a time when we are constantly reminded not to take our security for granted, today's ceremony is a significant and inspiring example that if we stand firm in defence of our values, we can genuinely change history -- for our countries, and for the Euro-Atlantic Community that we are building together, said NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson.
The 19 NATO member countries will now ratify, accept or approve the protocols, according to their national requirements and procedures. Once the ratification process is complete, the NATO Secretary General will invite the invitees to become parties to the North Atlantic Treaty.
The entire process is expected to be completed in time for the countries to join NATO at the next Summit, in May 2004.
Reforms to continue.
Lord Robertson noted that while the ratification process is ongoing NATO expects the countries to continue pursuing reforms to ensure that they can make a meaningful contribution to the Alliance. All seven countries have drawn up and submitted timetables for the completion of necessary reforms, which they will continue to implement.
The seven countries were invited to join the Alliance at the November 2002 NATO Summit in Prague. From December 2002 to March 2003 accession talks were held between NATO and the individual invitees to discuss and formally confirm their interest, willingness and ability to meet the political, legal and military obligations and commitments of NATO membership.
by NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson
Extraordinary meeting of the Council with the participation of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia And Slovenia
Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We meet today for an event that is good news for everybody concerned.
Seven countries from across Europe are taking a great stride towards their common goal of membership of NATOs transatlantic security family.
Doors closed for decades by artificial divisions of the Cold War were opened last November at Prague and the seven invited countries are now moving smoothly through them.
Today, the 19 Permanent Representatives to the North Atlantic Council will sign the Protocols of Accession to NATO for Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
This is - by far the largest number of countries ever to join NATO at once.
Nothing could illustrate better the profound transformation of both Europe and our Atlantic Alliance itself.
Todays ceremony is a vindication of the vision of all those who have, for many years, sought to anchor their countries firmly to a Europe with which they share democratic values.
This ceremony today is a testament to the hard work of all those who have been involved in turning that vision into a reality.
Now we can look ahead with confidence to the process of ratification of the Protocols of Accession by NATO member states.
And we look forward to the successful outcome of this process, and to welcoming our seven future Allies as full members at our next Summit Meeting in May 2004.
However, while the ratification process moves to the 19 Alliance capitals, NATO Allies expect the invited countries to continue to vigorously pursue the reform programmes that they have pledged, to ensure that they can make a meaningful contribution to this Alliance.
All seven countries have drawn up timetables for completion of necessary reforms which will enable them to do so, and they will continue to work through the Membership Action Plan, to carry forward all of these reforms.
I am certain that future historians will recognise that this decision to open NATO's doors has been a turning point in the building of a Europe reunited and free: a Europe united in peace, democracy and common values, from the Baltics to the Balkans, from the Atlantic to the Black Sea.
A Europe united in an unbreakable bond with North America.
And as NATOs Presidents and Prime Ministers said last November in Prague, todays invitees will not be the last.
NATOs door remains open.
Joining NATO will bring enormous benefits to our new members.
A seat at the table where key decisions are taken to shape and to strengthen Euro-Atlantic security.
A role in the planning and conduct of major military operations.
And, of course, the ultimate security guarantee of Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.
To the Foreign Ministers of the seven invited countries gathered here today, let me, in the name of the North Atlantic Council, offer my deepest congratulations to you and to your people.
You have shown vision and determination.
You have made the deep changes and forced the pace of reform.
You have made the grade and accepted the responsibilities of being a NATO member.
In a time when we are constantly reminded not to take our security for granted, today's ceremony is a significant and inspiring example that if we stand firm in defence of our values, we can genuinely change history -- for our countries, and for the Euro-Atlantic Community that we are building together.
Together, we make our neighbourhood a safer and more secure place.
by the Dean of the North Atlantic Council
Ambassador David Wright
NAC Meeting for the Signature of the Accession Protocols
I am pleased, on behalf of colleagues on the Council, to welcome the Foreign Ministers of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to this meeting of the North Atlantic Council.
Today we are taking a crucial step towards welcoming your seven democracies to NATO, this essential transatlantic organization.
This Alliance is based on values. Our North Atlantic Treaty says that the members of the Alliance are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.
Lors du Sommet de lOTAN qui sest tenu en janvier 1994, le Premier ministre canadien Jean Chrétien a dit: il faut tenir compte que les pays qui voudraient joindre notre Organisation ont cru fermement quen devenant des démocraties, quen respectant les droits de lhomme, quen devenant des pays qui épousaient les valeurs que nous défendons tous, ils pourraient joindre notre Organisation.
Je suis heureux que cette promesse a été tenue.
Last November in Prague when our Heads of State and Government took the historic decision to enlarge the Alliance, our host, President Havel, said it represented ... a great act of confidence in the right of nations freely to decide which part of the world they want to belong to and what alliances they want to establish and nurture.
NATO was an innovation when it was created. It has adapted and transformed as the world has changed, especially in the past ten years. It continues to change and you will help us with that change.
The accession of new members testifies to your faith, and ours, that the values that bind us -- freedom, democracy and the rule of law -- are greater than any differences we may have.
The decision in Prague was a positive affirmation of confidence in your seven countries and the choices you have made about the future you want for your countries and your citizens.
The reforms you have carried out and the political courage you have shown are recognized today. The applause that will follow the signing will be for you and for the citizens of your countries.
We count on each of you to continue to pursue your reform programmes vigorously and enthusiastically in the coming months and years.
We will work alongside you in this task.
NATO is the cornerstone of security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. Past enlargements have widened that zone of security and stability to the advantage of all Euro-Atlantic states. Your inclusion in the Alliance will have an equally positive impact.
In the coming months, each member of the Alliance will pursue the ratification of the Accession Protocols. Parliaments will scrutinize the efforts you and we have made to prepare for your membership.
We urge you to use this time to continue to prepare yourselves. The Membership Action Plans that have been agreed, the contributions you are already making to our common endeavours and the experience you will bring to our future deliberations, will all help in the ratification process.
I am confident that together we will be able to achieve the objective set for us in Prague to have all of you as Allies when our leaders meet again in the spring of 2004.
by H.E. Mr. Solomon Passy
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria
NAC Meeting for the Signature of the Accession Protocols
Dear Secretary General,
Excellencies,
Dear Colleagues,
I am particularly pleased to be here today at this remarkable meeting. The signature of the Accession Protocols is yet another landmark in our preparation process for NATO membership.
Regretfully, the skies of international relations are now clouded by the war in Iraq caused by the irresponsible policies of Saddam Hussein's regime and his flagrant violations of a number of the UN Security Council resolutions. My Government did its utmost to contribute to the peaceful option and is deeply grieved by its failure. We are hopeful that the use of force will end soon and will result in a free, prosperous and democratic future of Iraq and its people. We are also fully confident that the democratic Euro-Atlantic community will overcome the difficulties and NATO and the EU will emerge from the current situation more unified and stronger than ever. NATO enlargement shall definitely play a key role in that.
With the completion of the accession talks and pledge to continue the reform steps in our Timetable for reforms we entered a new phase. At this stage we commit ourselves to undertake better tailored measures targeted at further improving Bulgaria's position as a future Ally, capable to render effective political, strategic and military contributions.
I would like to express my genuine gratitude to the Alliance, all Member States and personally to the Secretary General Lord Robertson, for their strong commitment to the enlargement process and for the valuable support and expertise they have provided to us in our preparation efforts.
I reiterate the commitment already made during the accession talks to the task of taking the obligations, stemming from the future membership in the Alliance. Bulgaria will remain committed to its responsible foreign policy and its role of promoter of stability, security and good neighborliness in South East Europe.
Although we took the invitation issued to Bulgaria in Prague as an acknowledgement for the progress Bulgaria has achieved so far we are fully aware that there is still a lot to be done on our way to NATO membership. When preparing our Timetable for Reforms, we have considered carefully all the areas where further progress is needed during the accession process and beyond. We set our reform priorities with the aim to better address existing shortcomings and to implement relevant steps to overcome them.
strengthening border controls are among the highest priorities in our reform agenda. The accent will be put on the implementation of the existing legislative framework and its further improvement in order to meet the most advanced standards.
I would like to stress yet another strong commitment of the Bulgarian Government - to step up our work on security related issues. Let me assure you that we are firmly resolved to undertake all needed measures in order to meet the standards with regard to the protection of classified information and strengthening the responsible institutions.
Bulgaria is strongly resolved to continue to ensure the conduct of a responsible national policy with regard to transfers of arms and dual-use goods to particular "sensitive" states and regions. Bulgaria will remain firmly committed to the strict implementation of the export control legislation, thus ruling out any possibility for its infringement. Our commitment is substantiated by undertaking practical measures aimed at tightening the control over trade in arms and improving its enforcement.
We are determined to strengthen the efficiency of the special anti-corruption units in order to bring practical results in the fight against corruption. Special attention will be paid to the reform of the judiciary, which is one of the key tasks in the process of strengthening of the democratic institutions. Judicial reform will hinge upon the implementation of three main objectives: ensuring the accountability of the judicial system, improving the transparency of the judicial activities and enhancing their efficiency. To accomplish these aims a number of concrete measures are envisaged under the updated Strategy for Reform of the Judiciary System and the Action Plan for its implementation.
The Bulgarian model of interethnic and religious tolerance proved its stability during the last century. The integration of the Roma minority means upgrading their educational level, professional skills and living conditions. To realize this objective we will continue to fund and run result-oriented projects in the relevant areas.
We are committed to complete the reform of the armed forces with the aim to achieve full compatibility with the NATO standards. The Strategic Defense Review we have already started will provide us with a clear long-term vision an<jl adequate force plans for the Bulgarian armed forces. The aim is to build cost-effective, efficient, relevant and affordable national defense, at the same time providing for reliable and meaningful contribution to the Alliance. The military reform is backed by a steadily high level of defense budget of above 2,6% of GDP, sufficient to support the restructuring and moderniization.
In conclusion I would like to point out one more important fact - the strong consensus reached among all state institutions - the Parliament, the Government and the Presidency -upon Bulgaria's pledge to complete the reforms required for its future NATO membership and for consolidating its position as a reliable future Ally.
by Ms. Kristiina Ojuland,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia
At the Signing Ceremony of Accession Protocols
to the North Atlantic Treaty
Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honor to be here in NATO Headquarters at the signing ceremony of the Protocols of Accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of the seven countries invited in Prague -- the latest addition to NATO, to our common NATO family.
This is a great achievement for my country and my people, as it is indeed an achievement for all of us present here today. The forthcoming enlargement by seven countries is not only bold; it truly is a historic step towards Europe free, whole and at peace.
We never would have come this far had it not been bur common goal and endeavor with friends and partners already in the Alliance. Thank you for your effort and trust in us.
At this symbolic moment I would like to take the opportunity to reconfirm our dedication to reform and to the organization we have so earnestly worked to join.
We recently had a general election in Estonia, on Inarch 2.1 am representing a Government that will very soon be referred to as a previous Government. But, judging by the way the coalition negotiations are proceeding, I feel confident that the work done by this Government will continue and the commitment to spend 2% of our GDP on defense will be honored and fulfilled by the new Government.
Our commitment to reform is laid down in our Timetable for Reforms. I have every reason to believe that the next Government is going to follow in the footsteps of all previous Estonian Governments and do the groundwork needed for full and effective integration with the Alliance.
I would also like to take the opportunity to make a remark on an issue that has drawn some extra attention recently - the issue of information security and relevant procedures in acceding countries. I would like to stress that Estonia is fully aware of the responsibility that handling NATO information brings with it. We attach particular importance to streamlining procedures and preparing an adequate number of personnel with the necessary security clearances.
If my words have sounded too confident, I have to add that we are fully aware of the fact that we are not there yet. There is one more defining phase that we must go through. We must receive confirmation from our respective Parliaments that NATO is ready and willing to enlarge and that the incomers are ready to join.
This final hurdle is a crucial one, a moment of truth for the whole process that we have so strenuously worked for in the last 10 years, and I hope that our countries will pass the test with flying colours. We on our part will do our best to this end.
I would like to conclude by stressing that we would never have come this far without the vision of Secretary General Lord Robertson whom I recently had the pleasure of seeing in Estonia.
All of your visits left a lasting impression on Estonians. We owe you a great deal for your relentless pursuit of your vision of New Europe and New NATO.
Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your attention.
by
H.E. Mrs. Sandra Kalniete, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia
at the signing ceremony of the Accession Protocols to NATO
Mr. Secretary General, Fellow Ministers, Distinguished Ambassadors,
Thank you for those kind welcoming remarks. I am honoured to represent Latvia at today's signing ceremony.
It marks another crucial step in Latvia's return to the fold of democratic, like-minded nations. We are gaining permanent Allies for the first time in our history. Ambassadors, your signatures on the Accession Protocol will symbolize the fact that Latvia will never again stand alone in the face of a threat. This commitment by your countries reassures the people of Latvia.
But just as we receive your commitment to Latvia's security, we also accept our commitment to the security of our Allies. This sense of responsibility has grown during the 12 years since we regained our freedom. Our armed forces have contributed to every NATO-led international peace operation since 1996. We will continue to participate in the defence of values and ideals cherished by all of our countries around this table.
Indeed it is precisely in order to defend these values and to face perceived threats to the peace and safety of the world that countries are engaged, even while we speak, in disarming a regime that has violated international law. Latvia is part of this coalition. We will stand ready to provide humanitarian democracy and the reconstruction of a country that has suffered so long at the hands of a tyrant. Just as many of your countries have lent Latvia a helping hand to re - establish her democracy after half a century of totalitarian rule.
Chers collègues!
Lors du sommet de Prague, les Alliés ont une nouvelle fois démontré leur volonté de préserver le rôle et la capacité opérationnelle de I'OTAN en face des nouvelles menaces auxquelles nous sommes confrontes. C'est dans ce sens qu'il nous faut renforcer le lien transatlantique et I'union de I'OTAN. C'est la tâche fondamentale de la Lettonie, ainsi que de tous les autres pays invités à I'alliance.
Notre responsabilité pour la sécurité euro-atlantique est renforcée par notre détermination d'intégrer I'Alliance. Nos réformes seront poursuivies avec la même vigueur, Elles sont dirigées par la volonté de surmonter les derniers vestiges de lhéritage de l'époque soviétique. La création d'une société harmonieuse et inclusive reste une priorité essentielle de mon gouvernement. Soyez assures que cet objectif, ensemble avec d'autres reformes substantielles, demeurent au cœur de l 'activité gouvernementale.
L 'Amérique du Nord et les pays européens sont liés par des valeurs et des principes communs qui durant des décennies ont permis de surmonter la diversité interne des partenaires et effacer leurs divergences de vues. La capacité des Allies de parvenir a un consensus et de maintenir intacte la force du lien transatlantique est et sera déterminante pour la capacité d'action de I'Alliance.
que les potentiels militaires américains et européens sont différents, ce qui rend la sécurité du Continent dans une large mesure dépendante de la présence militaire des Etats-Unis.
II est essentiel que de part et d'autre de locéan, nous partagions une même vision quant à lobjectif primordial de lAlliance. II s'agit, en face des nouvelles menaces auxquelles nous sommes confrontés, de continuer a développer I'OTAN comme garant de sécurité et stabilité Internationale et de I'espace euro-atlantique.
Ambassadors - once you have set your signatures to the protocols today, can I urge you to seek your country's ratification with speed, and in the full knowledge that Latvia will be a reliable, first rate ally.
Address of H.E. Dr. Antanas Valionis
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
Signature of Accession Protocols
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Nine years ago, former Lithuanian President Algirdas Brazauskas sent an official letter to NATO Secretary General Manfred Wörner, expressing the will of the Lithuanian people to join the most cohesive and successful Alliance in history. Today, I am proud to welcome the signature of the Accession Protocols and to congratulate all NATO Allies and invitees on behalf of the Lithuanian people. A decade of hard work is finally turning our common vision into a reality.
Thanks to NATO, the security climate in Europe has improved consistently over the years. For Lithuania, membership in NATO means joining a strong defense organization of democratic nations, with Article 5 guarantees at its core. This gives us a strong sense of security. And we all know that investment and prosperity flourish best in a secure environment. At the same time, we realize that the Alliance must adapt to the new challenges looming ahead, including taking on new roles and missions. Only an organization able to transform in a changing environment will be able to complete the historic mission of creating a Europe whole and free, united in peace, democracy and common values.
The strength of NATO is based upon the solidarity of its members and its strong transatlantic link. Lithuania is keen to become a member of an Alliance that unites two continents and brings us to the table when crucial decisions are being made. We are equally keen to shape and strengthen Euro-Atlantic security more broadly. And we are determined to contribute politically and militarily.
In order to make this possible, Lithuania has committed itself politically to implementing our Individual Timetable for the Completion of Reforms. It envisages sustained reform efforts in the political, economic, defense, security and legal fields.
Todays signing of the Accession Protocols launches the process of national ratification of our membership in NATO countries. I would like to express my strong hope for a smooth ratification process in the 19 Allied capitals.
As we prepare to enter NATO, our intentions are clear. We intend to work through the Membership Action Plan and thus strengthen our ability to make a meaningful contribution to the Alliance. Lithuania plans to implement domestic reforms with parliamentary involvement. We will continue to give high priority to defence reform and our vision of the future of our armed forces. We will share our experience in implementing political, military and other reforms, and meeting NATO standards, with other countries, and thus contribute to building an enduring Euro-Atlantic community.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all those whose dedication and efforts made todays historic event possible. The past decade, and in particular the past 18 months, have made it clear that our security cannot be taken for granted. There is no better way to face new threats and challenges than as part of a community. We look forward to continuing to work together, across two continents, for the security of current and future generations.
by H.E. Mr. Mircea Geoana, Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Romania,
at the extraordinary meeting of the North Atlantic Council
Secretary General, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This is a great day for my country. After receiving the invitation to join NATO in Prague Romania takes today another step toward membership. NATO membership is highly popular with our public and enjoys the full support of our political establishment. It symbolizes the full reintegration of Romania into the Euro-Atlantic family of free and democratic nations.
Membership will give Romania the security of belonging to the most successful alliance in history and will provide us with the opportunity to contribute directly to the policies, decisions and operations aimed at ensuring the stability and defense of our continent and beyond. Moreover, it is an important element in the development of Romania as a democratic, respected and prosperous country.
We have strived hard to make it here today and we are proud of our achievements. But it is not the end of the road. NATO is not only about benefits; it is also about responsibilities and contributions. We have to be able to fulfill them. Although we have already come a long way, progress is still needed. The reforms continue throughout the Romanian society, including firm measures against corruption, enhancing administrative capacity and sustained economic progress.
We focus on the importance of fully implementing NATOs standards regarding the security of classified information. And, of course, we will continue the reforms of the Romanian military in order to build modern well-trained armed forces able to effectively act with our allies in NATO operations. Our commitment is reflected by the timetable for completion of reforms we have recently submitted to you.
Romania is determined to become a reliable and credible player, in NATO and the EU. We want the Alliance to stay as the main pillar of Euro-Atlantic defense, relying on Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. We want NATO to remain the most significant expression of the transatlantic link.
Only a strong Europe can be an effective partner for the United States in dealing with todays tremendous problems. We support the development of a meaningful ESDP operating in the same direction.
The historic decisions in Prague and Copenhagen set the stage for a successful transatlantic partnership, based on a strong European identity, increased military capabilities and a larger global role.
NATO is now at a pivotal moment, with extraordinary challenges, but also with extraordinary opportunities. New threats are arising the most dangerous one being the very toxic mix of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and trans-border organized crime. NATO has to meet these threats, because, as you Secretary General rightly said once, geography is no longer our shield. That is why new NATO capabilities are needed and that is why the Summit in Prague had its focus on the adaptation of capabilities and on building a NATO Response Force. Romania will be a net contributor to the process. We are already thinking of the capabilities we can bring along for NATOs core missions and the niche capabilities we can offer to the Alliance.
Romania wants to contribute to all the other issues included on the Prague agenda. We are committed to the new relationship between NATO and the EU that enables the EU to take over, as a concrete expression of the ESDP, the operation in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to which we have already pledged to contribute. We are looking forward to take part in the NATO-Russia Council, which has already built solid bridges of confidence between the parties. We are also looking forward to participating in the NATO-Ukraine cooperation.
Romania brings to the Alliance experience, expertise and a new vision of regional cooperation in the Balkans having as its goal the regions full integration into the Euro-Atlantic mainstream. Recent dramatic events in Belgrade should prompt a faster, more meaningful development and support for Serbia and Montenegro to fulfill the conditions to be invited to the PfP.
We will also remain active in the EAPC framework, focusing on ways to strengthen the cooperation with partner countries, especially with those in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Romania supports the open door policy of NATO. We believe there is room in the Alliance for all peace loving, democratic states, willing and able to further its goals.
But first and foremost the Prague agenda means a sound solidarity within the Alliance.
The Alliance is changing as the world is changing. The heated debate which took place recently in this building showed that the allies can overcame divisiveness. In the years to come we will probably witness other differences. The Alliance should build on the lessons learnt from these discussions, to ensure that NATO lives up to its ultimate commitment of guaranteeing the defense of its member states.
Even more than its capabilities, the cohesion of NATO is its most important and effective weapon. Not only will Romania not forget this, but it will be our course of action as a member of the Alliance.
Secretary General, distinguished Colleagues,
We meet today in testing times for NATO, for the democratic community and indeed for the whole world. These are times when solidarity and spirit of alliance become a foremost value in the efforts to bring peace and stability to the world.
Our thoughts go today to the Iraqi people and to the soldiers that are fighting to disarm Saddam Hussein.
We do hope that the conflict ends swiftly so our attention can be focused on the future of Iraq and the Greater Middle East, from North Africa to Afghanistan. NATO, together with other international organizations, mainly the UN and the EU, has the potential to play a role in overcoming the difficulties in the aftermath of the war.
Looking back to the way we have come since 1989, we feel today like winners. A dream of generations of Romanians has come true. We are grateful to the older members for their support and guidance, as we are to the Secretary General. We hope this support will continue throughout ratification, as will our commitment to reform.
Romania will not be just another nameplate around the NATO table. We invested enormous energy and expectation into this journey. Challenges might lie ahead, but we believe in our Alliance. We believe in its values, we believe in its principles and we believe in its future.
We will never rest in helping it in any way we can to remain the Premier Alliance of the West.
by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic
H.E. Mr. Eduard Kukan
at the extraordinary meeting of the North Atlantic Council
Mr. Secretary General, Excellencies,
In a relatively short time after the NATO Prague Summit I feel privileged and honoured to be present here and to represent my country in a moment of a historic achievement and satisfaction for Slovakia. This meeting of the North Atlantic Council is a moment of truth and fulfilled dream for all the seven prospective, as well as for the current, Allies in achieving a peaceful and prosperous Europe, Europe whole and free. NATO has never faced a challenge to enlarge by such a great number of nations. And it has never faced a challenge to undergo a massive internal transformation and adaptation that started at the Prague Summit. For us, the invitees, the successful transformation of the Alliance is another proof that the Alliance is highly appreciated by all and the values of the Alliance are considered to be the values of each Ally.
This robust enlargement of NATO seals the end of the Cold War division. Each of the invited countries has its own experience of that period of human rights suppression and totalitarian regimes. That time is over. Communism collapsed, and we return to the family of nations from which we have been, against our will, excluded from. Enlarged NATO will expand the zone of stability and security. We want to be an active and solid Ally, an Ally contributing to the security and stability in the transatlantic area. Based on our defence reform, we posses a capacity to contribute to NATO assets and we have a political will to use our military capabilities to meet new tasks facing NATO in a new security environment. Our participation in the fight against terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in Afghanistan or Iraq is a proof of our will, determination to shape the security in the world and our solidarity in addressing risks our Allies face.
Excellencies,
During one of the first NAC+1 meetings with Slovakia, one of the Ambassadors compared the status of our preparedness to join NATO to a tango dancing, when you know the basic steps but the practice and skills are not yet there. Recalling this debate I would like to thank all those, who showed us how to dance a proper NATO tango during the Membership Action Plan process. I would like to commend all those who have been helping us with their personal dedication and high professionalism throughout the whole MAP process. In this respect, I would like to thank particularly the representatives of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland who unselfishly have been sharing with us their lessons learned from the process of the accession to the Alliance.
In my Letter of Intent, I stated my countrys intention to contribute to the security of all Allies. The core of this commitment lies in sharing the same values, a firm solidarity and enforcing the NAC decisions in the spirit of a good will. Slovakia fully understands and accepts all obligations stemming from these principles. On behalf of the Slovak Government I would like to reconfirm our strongest will and determination to pursue our long-term goals and to continue with necessary reforms.
I believe that the signing of the Accession Protocols will be followed by thorough discussions in the Parliaments of NATO member states and result in their early ratification. We understand well that during the ratification period our determination to accomplish self-imposed tasks will be scrutinized under watchful eyes of all 19 Allies. Parliaments in both, the current member states and in the invited countries, are facing another historic challenge of making a decision that will anchor the future of the continent and the most valuable transatlantic link. It is up to us all to make sure that this historic chance turns into success.
by Dr Dimitrij Rupel, Foreign Minister
of the Republic of Slovenia,
at the signature of the NATO Accession Protocols
It is my greatest privilege and honor to appear in front of you on this day, which undoubtedly marks a milestone for the future of the Slovenian people and Slovenian foreign policy. The invitation to join NATO and the signing of the Accession Protocols are historic events for Slovenia. Membership in NATO opens a new security perspective and responsibility for us. It provides an opportunity to create and plan our security together with the majority of other democratic countries from the Euro-Atlantic area. We are honored that nineteen member states decided to share their security efforts with Slovenia.
The citizens of Slovenia have recognized this historic opportunity for Slovenia to join the Atlantic Alliance. This recognition was verified by 66% support at the referendum last Sunday. The Government campaign played an important part in raising public support. A valuable contribution to the campaign was also made by the visits of the Secretary General Lord Robertson and high representatives of NATO countries who helped clarify the role and purpose of NATO to the Slovenian public.
Slovenia understands the invitation to NATO as recognition of its transformation, since it gained independence more than a decade ago, from a security consumer into a security producer. Slovenia has proven its role as a security producer by unreservedly supporting the operations and policy of the Alliance and by participating actively in NATO operations such as SFOR (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and KFOR (Kosovo). NATO membership will help Slovenia to strengthen its capacity as a security producer.
Slovenia will continue to work seriously on meeting the requirements to become a firm and reliable member of the Alliance. We shall continue our plans regarding the political, economic, defense, security and legal dimensions of our membership. The efforts to build up our defense structures, which will enable Slovenia to contribute to the overall strength of the Alliance, will be accelerated. Slovenia will develop those branches of the military that will be of use to the Alliance as well as its own national defense. After the successful conclusion of defense reforms Slovenia will be capable of participating in the whole spectrum of NATO operations.
The Strategy of the Alliance adopted at the last Summit in Prague represents an appropriate response to contemporary security challenges. Slovenia perceives NATO as an indispensable institution in a multi-layered concept of providing security in the contemporary world. The establishment of the NATO Response Forces and the idea of armed forces specialization are both a move in the right direction. Slovenia will do its best to support the implementation of the Prague Declaration. Slovenia has already, in accordance with its possibilities, contributed to the efforts of the international anti-terrorist coalition.
NATO should continue its open door policy. Every country in the area defined by the Washington Treaty should be eligible, when it fulfils the required criteria. This and the previous round of enlargement have successfully extended the area of stability into parts of Europe that throughout history generated considerable instability and insecurity for various reasons. As a future member Slovenia is willing and ready to assist all those countries that want to join the Alliance in their endeavors to fulfill the criteria.
As a country on the North Western edge of South Eastern Europe, Slovenia pays special attention to the stabilization process in that part of Europe, in which NATO has played a vital role in bringing stability and democracy. Slovenia is actively engaged in different areas, from participating in NATO-led forces to economic, humanitarian and political activities. Through the latter Slovenia endorses the integration of South Eastern European countries into Euro-Atlantic institutions. Only their full integration into these institutions will mark a successful end to the process of providing sustainable peace and stability in the region.
Slovenia is looking forward to closer cooperation with its allies in the near future. Slovenias engagement as an observer in NATO structures will no doubt have a positive influence on Slovenias readiness to be a reliable ally.
By Oana Lungescu
BBC European regional correspondent
Nato has taken a major step in its drive for eastward expansion, with the ambassadors of the 19 member countries signing accession documents to accept seven more members.
The foreign ministers of Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania came to Brussels to attend the ceremony at alliance headquarters.
But the signing has been overshadowed by the war in Iraq.
This expansion, the biggest in Nato history, will push the borders of the alliance to the Black Sea.
It was sponsored by the United States, in its search for allies in the war against terrorism.
In exchange, the seven nations invited to join Nato next year pledged their support for the war in Iraq.
So did Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, which joined Nato four years ago.
But the former communist countries got caught in the middle of a fierce transatlantic row, when President Chirac of France lashed out warning them that their pro-American stance could harm their hopes to join the European Union.
As both the EU and Nato struggle to redefine their roles, the Secretary General of Nato, George Robertson, reassured the applicants that the rift would not hinder expansion plans.
They have already taken steps to cut their bloated communist-style armies, to increase their defence spending and to ensure the protection of Nato-classified information.
On Wednesday, they signed up to a timetable for further reforms, not least measures to combat corruption, to be completed before they formally join Nato at a summit in May 2004.
Now that Nato ambassadors have signed the accession protocols, amending the founding treaty of the alliance to allow for new members, national parliaments in all existing and future member countries have a year to ratify the expansion.
Slovenia opened the way last weekend, when 60% of voters said Yes to Nato in a referendum.
Passy: We Surmounted One More Obstacle towards NATO.
Standartnews
The enlargement of the Alliance intensifies the ties between Europe and the USA, says Foreign Minister Solomon Passy.
- Mr Minister, What makes you most excited in this very moment?
- Today is really a great day. One of my dreams came true, one idea for which hundreds of people from the Atlantic club had been working for over ten years. I would like to thank the our politicians and statesmen for their will and courage. This was one of the biggest aims of the foreign policy of the cabinet of PM Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. I am very happy that we are on the right way to really achieve it. I expect that this will happen in the first half of the spring of 2004. After that it is to be held the NATO summit and then Bulgaria will be there as a full member.
- Could it be said that any of the 7 countries invited will go a different way from the others?
- I believe, that each country will manage to do its best.
Brussels, 26 March (STA) - Seven NATO invitees signed accession protocols on Wednesday in Brussels, namely Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Slovenian FM Dimitrij Rupel, who was present at the signing, pledged that Slovenia will be a solid and reliable ally.
Povabilo kot priznanje za preobrazbo iz "porabnika v proizvajalca varnosti"
Dnevnik.si
Simona Pilko
BRUSELJ - Slovenija je od danes naprej de facto članica Nata, je včeraj povedal zunanji minister Dimitrij Rupel po podpisu pristopnega protokola na sedežu severnoatlantske zveze v Bruslju. Veleposlaniki devetnajstih držav članic Nata so včeraj podpisali pristopne protokole o vključitvi sedmih držav, ki so na vrhunskem sestanku Nata novembra lani v Pragi dobile povabilo za članstvo. To so poleg Slovenije Bolgarija, Estonija, Latvija, Litva, Slovaška in Romunija.
Generalni sekretar Nata George Robertson je na slovesnosti v navzočnosti zunanjih ministrov sedmih povabljenih držav dejal, da se s tem začenja proces ratifikacije v devetnajstih državah članicah. Nakazal je, da bodo na ratifikacijo v parlamentih pomembno vplivala prizadevanja povabljenih držav, da pravočasno izvedejo reforme.
Proces ratifikacije naj bi trajal predvidoma leto dni, nato bo pristopne protokole ratificiralo še sedem povabljenih držav. Sedmerica se bo vključila v Nato predvidoma maja prihodnje leto, na vrhunskem sestanku severnoatlantske zveze.
Slovenija in drugih šest povabljenih držav se bodo postopoma lahko vključile v različne Natove aktivnosti in odbore, vendar bo ta proces stekel šele po treh mesecih, kar je počasneje, kot se je zgodilo v primeru Češke, Madžarske in Poljske. Ta zamuda naj bi nastala zaradi težav z dvema od povabljenih držav, med katerima po zagotovilih ministra Rupla ni Slovenije.
Dr. Rupel je poudaril, da je ta dogodek "nedvomno prelomnica za prihodnost slovenskega naroda in slovenske zunanje politike". Dejal je, da Slovenija razume povabilo Nata kot priznanje za preobrazbo iz "porabnika v proizvajalca varnosti".
Minister je poudaril, da mora Nato nadaljevati politiko "odprtih vrat", ter izrazil pripravljenost Slovenije, da kot prihodnja članica pomaga vsem državam, ki se želijo vključiti v Nato. Na kosilu z veleposlaniki devetnajstih držav Nata in zunanjimi ministri sedmih povabljenk pa je dr. Rupel pozval k večji pomoči in vlaganjem v Srbiji in Črni gori, da bi se lahko čim prej vključili v evropske povezave.
[RSI] On Wednesday, Slovakia signed the ratification protocols on NATO accession in Brussels. PM Mikulas Dzurinda said that an open letter signed by 50 celebrities supporting Slovakia's entry to NATO is an answer to all doubts about NATO membership. Dzurinda promised that the government would be more active in informing citizens about the benefits and responsibilities resulting from NATO membership.
Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda met signatories of the petition for accession to NATO on Wednesday. Signatories appealed to the cabinet and political parties to revitalize public discussions on the subject next week. The PM said that the cabinet would discuss the material in an information campaign on advantages and obligations linked with Slovakia's NATO membership next week. Dzurinda underlined the role of the United States. He emphasized that there could not be security in Slovakia and Europe without an alliance with the United States. According to him, it will take a long time until our country reaches the living standard of NATO countries, however, Slovakia could contribute to the Alliance with its experience from the past Communist regime that made our country more sensitive to threats.
Peter Weiss, a former MP and initiator of the petition for Slovakia?s NATO entry justified the initiative with decreasing public support for the country?s NATO membership, for which the government is partly responsible after it stopped its information campaign. Weiss claims that remaining outside NATO would be a punishment first of all for Slovakia. Former president Michal Kovac says that one-time PM Vladimir Meciar should take the responsibility for wasting the historical chance to join NATO because due to the policy of his government Slovakia was not invited to join the Alliance in 1997.
Romania's signing the Protocol of Accession to the North Atlantic Treaty is part of a profound, long-going process, says President Iliescu.
Bucharest, March 27 /Rompres/ - On Wednesday, in Bucharest, President Ion Iliescu hailed as a truly historic moment Romania's signing the same day a Protocol of Accession to the North Atlantic Treaty.
"It is a really historic moment, part of a deep-going and long-lasting process of modernising Romania, of integrating the political, economic and social values of the West, of definitely adopting what we call the Euro-Atlantic civilisation," said Ion Iliescu.
The head of the state thanked all the citizens of Romania and the political forces for their efforts and for the way they chose to assume the responsibilities and the costs of Romania's joining NATO, but also the NATO member states, which supported this country all along this process.
"The signature of this Protocol attests to the changes in the Romanian society, in the way of thinking and action of Romanians, in their outlook on the real world. This is the victory of all those who, ever since the December 1989 Revolution, have thought about the democratisation of Romania, about a comeback to normalcy, about the creation of mechanisms and institutions of a market economy and acted accordingly. The consensus reached on this strategic objective represented by Euro-Atlantic integration have offered all the post-1989 Romanian governments arguments and support in satisfying the requirements of accession. To all these and to the citizens of Romania I am conveying thanks for the efforts," said Iliescu.
"The Wednesday event is part of a new process, of new beginnings for Romania, who from now on has new objectives, new responsibilities and a new status. We still need public support and consensus in the political class if we are to succeed in doing what we have planned to do. Such support is all the more necessary now, as Romania has to carry out the reforms it has assumed at a quicker pace," said Iliescu.
Iliescu added that the support will contribute to improving Romania's picture abroad as a responsible ally able of substantial contributions, while at a domestic level this will be visible on positive, real changes in the daily life of each citizen.
"We are confidently looking forward to the moment in which we will be besides our allies as participants and contributors of ideas to debates on important issues concerning the world community. Romania's contribution and actions within NATO will not be in form only, but substantial and built on the coordinates having constantly defined Romania's foreign and defence policy of the past years," said Iliescu.
Leaders of NATO member and invited countries on Wednesday in Brussels signed protocols of accession to NATO. This was the second most important moment for Romania, which will be followed by the ratification by 19 NATO member countries. roa/mav/
Bush Demands from the US Congress to Sign Bulgaria's NATO Membership.
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March 28 2003, 2:00 PM
Bush Demands from the US Congress to Sign Bulgaria's NATO Membership.
Standartnews
The membership of Bulgaria and the other 6 aspiring countries will be a contribution to the freedom, wrote US President.
US President George W. Bush sent to the US Congress a report to be approved of, concerning NATO enlargement with 7 new countries, Bulgaria amongst them. Bush wrote to the leaders of the US Congress that on November, 22, 2002, together with the other leading countries of NATO had invited Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia to become members of NATO. He is convinced that these countries' accession will contribute to the cause of freedom and will make NATO stronger for the future. The resolution for the ratifications on NATO's behalf, envisages when new countries are to become members of the Alliance, the President of the USA should present to the respective committees of the US Congress a report with updated information about the country-candidate. The report, submitted by President Bush, comprises analyses about the abilities of the countries-candidates to fully bear the financial burden of the NATO membership. In his conclusion President Bush pointed, that the US Congress had always shown strong support for the enlargement of NATO.
Washington, 02 April (STA) - The U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, Nicholas Burns, on Tuesday told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that NATO enlargement to seven invited countries - among them Slovenia - would make the Alliance stronger. Burns as well as the committee's Chairman, Republican Richard Lugar, pointed out that all seven invitees supported the coalition's military action against Iraq.
THE SLOVAK parliament on April 10 approved the country's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), leading supporters of a referendum on the matter to admit defeat in their efforts to force a public vote.
While a referendum on EU entry is required by law, no such vote is needed for the country to join NATO.
"I consider this historic decision to be the result of the country's top officials' efforts to ensure its safety, which it shall gain by entering the most effective collective defence body in today's world," said President Rudolf Schuster, who signed the treaty on April 15, thus concluding Slovakia's side of the accession process.
Prime Minister Mikulį Dzurinda and parliamentary speaker Pavol Hruovskż also welcomed the move.
A total of seven central and eastern European countries received invitations to join NATO at the alliance's summit in Prague last November. Entry is planned for the spring of 2004.
Slovakia's neighbours the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary all became NATO members in March 1999. Slovakia's ambitions to join at that time were thwarted by the government of Vladimķr Mečiar, in power between 1994 and 1998, which was seen as undemocratic and authoritarian by the West.
The change of government following parliamentary elections in the autumn of 1998 came too late, as the Czechs, Poles, and Hungarians had all received invitations to join at NATO's summit in Madrid in July 1997. Slovakia has been one of the leading candidates for entry since 1998.
Coalition and opposition MPs alike showed their approval for accession to the alliance. Out of the 150-member assembly, 136 MPs took part in the vote and an overwhelming majority of 124 voted in favour. Bohumil Hanzel, from the opposition party Smer, abstained from the vote.
The entire 11-member caucus of the Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS), the only parliamentary party not to have NATO membership included in its election programme, voted against entry.
"It's possible that NATO is contributing to the stabilisation of social inequality in the world, and I cannot agree with Slovakia's participation in the exploitation of the poor," said KSS MP Karol Ondriį in the parliamentary debate.
"The KSS is against NATO entry. We see the future in a common European defence policy," said KSS chairman Jozef evc.
Representatives of the 19 current NATO members signed the accession protocols on March 26 in Brussels. In order for Slovakia to become a fully-fledged NATO member, all current members must ratify the country's entry. So far, only Canada and Norway have done so.
Slovakia was the first out of all candidate countries to vote on accession. KSS head evc accused parliament of trying to confuse citizens with its speedy decision making, so the public would not support a referendum on entry. Advocates of a public vote have now given up on further efforts to ensure a referendum would be held.
Since January, a group called the Civic Initiative for a Referendum on Slovakia's Entry into NATO, supported by a number of political and non-governmental organisations, has been gathering signatures on a petition calling for a referendum on the issue. A referendum would have to be held if the petition was signed by at least 350,000 people.
"Political elites are terrified of the prospect of a possible referendum. If they are really that confident that NATO entry will only bring advantages, they should have ensured support for these arguments in a fair referendum battle," said Eduard Chmelįr, head of the initiative, adding that such arguments would probably not win if played out in the arena of public opinion.
However, parliamentary speaker Hruovskż said he did not believe that the majority of citizens opposed NATO entry, and that it was parliament's right to make the decision.
"Parliament had no reason to hold back. By approving entry into NATO, it was just using its constitutional right," he said.
The constitution states that even if a referendum were held on this issue, the results would not be binding for parliament, which would make the final decision.
Current research supports the opinions of both Chmelįr and Hruovskż. According to a survey carried out by the Culture and Public Opinion Research Institute of the National Education Centre released on April 10, only 43.5 per cent of Slovaks support the country's entry into NATO, while 52.8 per cent are opposed.
At the same time, the research showed that only 66.5 per cent would attend a referendum on entry and a majority of those who attended would vote in favour of entry.
The referendum initiative was hoping to present the required number of signatures to the president by the end of March, but collecting them has proven more difficult than expected.
"Right now we have approximately 190,000 signatures. We were hoping it would be more," former justice minister and petition activist Jįn Čarnogurskż told The Slovak Spectator on April 11.
Čarnogurskż said the low number could be because of misleading information from the collectors of signatures in the early stages of the petition, cold weather during the winter months, and the fact that the organisers were relying on volunteers.
"We have not given up completely but we are realists," said Chmelįr, adding that further signatures would only be collected to make a point.
Observers are keenly watching the US Congress, whose approval is expected to seal Slovakia's fate in the alliance.
Following a 45-minute meeting between President Schuster and President George W Bush on April 9, Schuster's spokesperson Jįn Füle told the SITA news agency that the US will most likely ratify the entry of all seven invited countries in June.
No doubt, the US Congress will adopt the protocols of Bulgaria's integration in NATO in the coming weeks, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said. He emphasized once again he was absolutely sure that Bulgaria, Romania and the rest 5 invited countries would receive the approval of the US Congressmen. The Pentagon is currently discussing some of its bases to be closed down, and its armed forces in Europe to be downsized. Gen. Jones said that many of the US bases in Germany would be closed down, so as other US bases in some Eastern Europe countries to be opened. Bulgaria and Romania are very suitable candidates for this purpose, the general said to US journalists. The Republican Senator George Alan also said a few good words about Bulgaria. To him, the USA won the war with Iraq with the help and support of Bulgaria and the rest Eastern Europe countries, which participated in the coalition against the regime of Saddam.
Secretary of State Colin Powell asked Congress Tuesday to approve protocols that would welcome seven new members into NATO, which would be the alliance's largest expansion in its 54-year history.
Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Powell strongly encouraged the committee to ratify NATO entry for Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
"It's the central organizing force in a great web of relationships that holds North America and Europe together," Powell told the senators. "It represents a community of common values and shared commitment to democracy, free markets and the rule of law."
Powell pointed out that on Sept. 12, 2001, the day after terrorists attacked the nation, the alliance told the world that it regarded attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as attacks on all NATO members. This, he said, shows that NATO has the will to combat terrorism and to address the new threats the world faces.
"But the alliance must also have the means," Powell said. "So it must transform, militarily and politically, to secure our collective defense."
Having seven new members "will revitalize NATO by expanding its geographic reach, enhance its military capabilities," he noted.
"We must not forget that the seven invitees also bring tangible security assets to the alliance," the retired Army general said. "Enlargement will bring more than 200,000 additional troops into the alliance and extend NATO's reach from the Baltic to the Black Sea, both politically and geographically.
"And the new members will make the alliance stronger, and they will bring fresh ideas and energy to it," Powell emphasized. "I'm pleased to report that all seven invitees are already de facto allies in the war on terror. All of them have contributed to stabilization efforts in Afghanistan through Operation Enduring Freedom and the International Security Assistance Force."
For more than a half a century, NATO has been indispensable to security on both sides of the Atlantic, the secretary noted, "meeting the security challenges in a world of diverse threats, multiple challenges and unprecedented opportunities."
Powell called the West's triumph in the Cold War and defeat of Soviet communism "a victory for freedom and democracy."
But "the troubles and tragedies of the past decade" have ushered in new threats, from ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to terrorist attacks on Sept. 11." To deal with them, he continued, the United States will continue to rely on NATO in the future.
The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the committee "the door to NATO will remain open. Prague was not the end of the enlargement process, just one step on the way. We welcome the applications of Albania, Croatia and Macedonia and other future applicants as well."
During the question-and-answer session, Powell was asked about comments by Marine Gen. James Jones, chief of U.S. European Command, about potential bases and training areas in Eastern Europe.
He responded that "it's very sensible as the alliance has enlarged itself, moving to the east, to take a look at a base structure that was created in the '50s."
He said during his term as Joint Chiefs chairman, "We reduced the size of our forces in Europe from 310,000 down to roughly 100,000 to 150,000. A lot of bases went away."
But the base structure remained as "the armed forces of the United States along the Iron Curtain ready to fight the Soviet Union."
"Most of those nations we were ready to fight are now a part of NATO," Powell noted. "So it's sensible to take a look at the base structure -- not with the intent of how do we get closer to the Russian federation. That's not the point at all.
"Anybody who thinks we're somehow creeping back up to a new Cold War line, that's not it at all," he said. "It's just sensible to see whether there are other places where we should have facilities, which is a better term than 'bases.' We need facilities that will allow us to move more quickly to other parts of the world.
Quoting Jones, Powell said, "We're looking not for re-creation of Fort Hood, Texas, in Bulgaria or Romania. But perhaps a forward facility where you can use it when you need it for exercise or transit purposes."
In response to another question, Powell pointed out that President George Bush, Prime Minister Tony Blair and other members of the coalition said the United Nations has a vital role to play in Iraq.
"We're hard at work now trying to structure what that role should be and how best to get U.N. endorsement of the role we think is appropriate," the secretary said. "We have some ideas of what we think the U.N. should do with respect to the lifting of sanctions against Iraq, the endorsement of an interim authority and an endorsement of our presence.
"There is a major role for the U.N. to play, and they're playing a role already on humanitarian grounds," Powell noted. "The World Food Program and other U.N. agencies are working with the coalition now."
But he said it's important for the U.N. to go beyond the humanitarian role and get into an endorsement role with the participation of a representative of the secretary general.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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May 8 2003, 5:30 PM
U.S. Senate Approves NATO Expansion.
Washington, 08 May (STA) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday formally backed NATO's expansion, voting unanimously that seven aspirants, including Slovenia, could join the military alliance. In a 96:0 vote, the U.S. comes as a third country to ratify the enlargement after Canada and Norway.
The US Senate passed unanimously on Thursday a resolution to ratify the Protocols of Accession of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, an instrument of formal US endorsement of the invitees' accession to NATO.
The new members will increase NATO's forces by about 200,000 troops and will add new bases.
Six of the countries were members of the U.S.-led coalition against the regime in Iraq: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia.
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Passy, who left Tuesday on a visit to the United States, will propose a toast at a lunch given by Secretary of State Colin Powell to the foreign ministers of the seven countries invited to NATO membership.
US President Bush will welcome to the White House the foreign ministers of the seven eastern European nations, NATO inviteees.
The Accession Protocol for Bulgaria has so far been ratified by the parliaments of Canada and Norway, which needs to be approved by all of the 19 allies. A ratification process is under way at the German Bundestag.
Upon his departure to the United States Foreign Minister Passy said that US bases on the territory of Bulgaria would serve as a guarantee for peace, security and economic development of the region.
Minister Passy underlined that Bulgaria must make the best of its geo-strategic position in offering territory for US bases, since "the supply far exceeds the demand".
Bulgaria has already proved that it could be a reliable ally in the fight against terrorism, Christopher Makins, president of the Atlantic Council of the United States, told the Bulgarian National Radio.
According to him, the country possesses a potential to be an excellent partner within NATO. His words come, as the US Senate is to vote the ratification of Bulgaria's NATO entry papers on Thursday.
However, Christopher Makins explained that some people in the US are concerned that the ratification and the actual membership of the East European countries might defuse their willingness for reforms. That is why the US thinks that the new members should be involved in the whole process of the ongoing military transformation of NATO.
The president of the Atlantic Council also pointed out that there are certain concerns about Bulgaria's political reforms, the crack of corruption and organized crime. The licensing of dual-use goods and the governmental control on the military industry will be very important in the future. As to the classified information, Makins thinks that Bulgaria is in a good position to manage it.
He ruled out the possibility for the US Senate to refuse a ratification of the NATO accession protocols to Bulgaria and the six other candidate-members. However, the president of the Atlantic Council said that to the Senate might add some recommendations to its resolution.
-------------------------------------------
Bush: God Bless You.
US President George W. Bush said that America had always viewed Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia as friends and would always be proud to call these countries allies, in a speech delivered on May 8, greeting the representatives of the 7 NATO-aspiring countries. President Bush said they would always be proud to call these countries their allies. God bless your peoples, President George W. Bush said in the White House, greeting the foreign ministers after the historic vote of the Senate approving their NATO membership. Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Solomon Passy had talks with Bush in the Roosevelt Hall. Passy greeted Secretary of State Colin Powell on behalf of his counterparts. All of them took each other by the hands in token of solidarity. Photo AP
This message has been edited by TsarSamuil from IP address 212.181.9.227 on May 12, 2003 10:14 AM
President Bush Meets with Central European Foreign Ministers.
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May 9 2003, 10:19 AM
President Bush Meets with Central European Foreign Ministers.
Remarks by the President with Central European Foreign Ministers.
The East Room.
3:38 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much, and welcome to the White House. We're glad you're here. Interestingly enough, it was here, 58 years ago today, that President Harry Truman announced the end of the war in Europe. And the people of America and Europe celebrated that victory together.
This year on VE Day we mark another kind of victory in Europe. Just hours ago, the United States Senate voted unanimously to support NATO admission for Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. These heroic nations have survived tyranny, they have won their liberty and earned their place among free nations. America has always considered them friends, and we will always be proud to call them allies.
I appreciate the Foreign Ministers of the NATO nations -- or the nations who will soon be joining NATO -- who are with us today. We just had a great discussion in the Roosevelt Room in the White House complex.
I appreciate so very much the Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has been a strong and tireless advocate for the expansion of NATO. (Applause.)
I want to thank the members of the United States Senate who have joined us here today. I appreciate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee for coming. I particularly want to thank Chairman Dick Lugar and ranking member Joe Biden for their strong leadership in getting the Senate to vote unanimously for the admission of these nations into NATO. Great job, senators. (Applause.)
I also am honored to welcome George Voinovich, the Senator from Ohio and, more importantly, Janet Voinovich, his wife. (Laughter and applause.) And Senator Carl Levin from Michigan. Welcome, I'm glad you all are here, and thanks for coming.
I want to welcome the chairmen and chairwomen of the parliamentary foreign affairs committees who are here. I appreciate the ambassadors from our current and future allied nations who are joining us today. I want to thank General Richard Myers for joining us today, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And I want to thank all of our distinguished guests for coming.
The defeat of Nazi Germany brought an end to the armed conflict in Europe. But that victory did not bring true peace and unity to the continent. For millions, tyranny remained in a different uniform. The freedom of Bulgaria and Romania and Slovakia and Slovenia was subverted by communist dictators. And Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were wiped off the map as independent countries.
As the Iron Curtain fell across Europe, and walls and barbed wire were raised, the free nations of Europe and the United States gathered their will and courage and formed the greatest alliance of liberty. Through 40 winters of Cold War, NATO defended the security of the western world, and held in trust the ideal of freedom for all the peoples of Europe.
This division, this great standoff, did not end in military conflict. It ended when the peoples of central and eastern Europe took history into their own hands and took back their rights and their freedom.
From that moment, it was clear that the old lines dividing Europe between east and west, the lines of Yalta, were entirely irrelevant to the future.
Nearly two years ago, in Warsaw, I urged the enlargement of NATO to all of Europe's democracies, from the Baltic to the Black Sea, and all that lie between, so that people in those countries would have the same chance for security and freedom enjoyed by Europe's older democracies.
I called upon all the NATO allies to renew our mission and to meet the great challenges and opportunities of the world beyond Europe. And these challenges arrived quickly. Following the terrorist attacks of September the 11th, NATO invoked its commitment to collective -- to the collective defense for the first time in its history.
Our friends in central and eastern Europe responded as well, providing resources of law enforcement and intelligence to help breakup terrorist cells, to disrupt terrorist plots, and to cut off terrorist funding.
In the battle of Afghanistan, nations from central and eastern Europe supplied soldiers and special forces and peacekeepers to help defeat the Taliban, to help destroy the terrorists and to bring freedom to the Afghan people.
In the battle of Iraq, central and eastern European countries have stood with America and our coalition to end a grave threat to peace, and to rid Iraq of a brutal, brutal regime. The peoples of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia have a fresh memory of tyranny. And they know the consequences of complacency in the face of danger.
Time and again, they have demonstrated their desire and ability to defend freedom against its enemies. They have proven themselves to be allies by their action. And now it is time to make them allies by treaty.
This morning's vote in the Senate brings that day closer. I urge all the current members of NATO to welcome these new members as quickly as possible. These nations will make NATO stronger, and we need that strength for all the work that lies ahead. We must continue to fight global terror and strongly oppose the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
NATO, itself, must develop new military capabilities to meet the emerging dangers of a new era. We must help the people of the Balkans to become full partners in the progress of Europe. We welcome the commitment of Albania, Croatia and Macedonia to the values and principles of NATO. And we will help them as they move forward with reform.
We have work ahead in bringing order and security to Iraq, so the Iraqi people can build the institutions of freedom and provide an example of democracy to other Arab nations. And just as NATO has stood for the freedom of all of Europe, we must stand with people everywhere who strive for greater freedom and tolerance and development and health and opportunity, including those in the Middle East and Africa.
This day was a long time in coming, yet there was never any doubt. Through decades of crisis and division, Europe's peoples shared with people everywhere the same need and hope for freedom. This hope overcame the designs of tyrants and this hope overcame the tragedies of war.
The nations of central and eastern Europe are one of history's great examples of the power and appeal of liberty. And we believe that example will be followed and multiplied throughout the world.
Thank you all for coming. May God bless your nations. (Applause.)
President George W. Bush addresses the Central European Foreign Ministers in the East Room May 8, 2003. "Just hours ago, the United States Senate voted unanimously to support NATO admission for Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia," explained President Bush. "These heroic nations have survived tyranny, they have won their liberty and earned their place among free nations. America has always considered them friends, and we will always be proud to call them allies." White House photo by Tina Hager.
Bulgaria Wants 1,500 Officials to Get Access to NATO Classified Data.
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May 19 2003, 11:57 AM
Bulgaria Wants 1,500 Officials to Get Access to NATO Classified Data.
Novinite.com
Politics: 18 May 2003, Sunday.
Sofia has demanded that 1,500 officials from Bulgaria's army and special serves gain access to NATO's classified information. The country that is expected to join the alliance in 2004 has not yet received an answer to its request.
The NATO headquarters in Brussels have advised Sofia to cut the number of those who will work with classified information.
Bulgarian authorities suffer some kind of over-effect, an official from Bulgaria's State Commission for Security of Information admitted. "There should be more people so they can deputize," Tsveta Markova, chair of the commission, explains the motives of Bulgarian authorities.
The commission should issue certificates for access to classified information till the spring of 2004 when Bulgaria is projected to become full NATO member.
Sofia, May 16 (BTA) - The Chief of General Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, General Nikola Kolev, told the press on May 16 that he will start an official visit to the US on May 31 at the invitation of General Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Kolev attended a working lunch of ambassadors of NATO member countries in Sofia, hosted by French Ambassador Jean-Loup Kuhn-Delforge.
In the US, General Kolev will meet with General Myers, other commanders with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and senior officials from the Department of Defense and the Congress. Kolev will also tour military bases.
This message has been edited by TsarSamuil from IP address 212.181.9.227 on May 19, 2003 12:00 PM
Prague, August 7 (TASR-SLOVAKIA correspondent) - The Czech Senate on Thursday ratified the enlargement of NATO with seven countries including Slovakia, by an emphatic 60 votes for, two against, and two abstentions.
The Czech Republic thus completed the ratification process, after the Parliament's lower house (House of Representatives) green-lighted the enlargement in July.
Of 19 NATO members, the accession protocols have so far been ratified by seven countries: Canada, Norway, the USA, Hungary, Luxembourg, Germany, and now the Czech Republic.
The enlargement was approved by last November's summit of the Alliance in Prague, and the protocols were signed by NATO leaders on March 26, 2003.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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September 2 2003, 2:22 PM
NATO Training Starts in Bulgarian Town.
Novinite.com
Politics: 2 September 2003, Tuesday
Troops of eight NATO member nations, six that were invited to join the alliance and seven associates of the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program will join Tuesday's annual training in Bulgaria's second city of Plovdiv.
Bulgarian army chief Gen. Nikola Kolev will open the exercise, which will continue until September 13.
The program is a US Secretary of Defense initiative designed to promote cooperation and mutual understanding between NATO and Partnership for Peace member nations. Exercises aim to promote interoperability for future peace support missions that involve NATO and PfP nations.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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September 8 2003, 10:00 AM
Robertson: Bulgaria Is Ready for NATO Membership.
Standartnews
The reforms in the defense system of Bulgaria are completed and Bulgaria is ready for membership in the North Atlantic Alliance, NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson said at the opening of a conference on Shaping a Common Security Agenda For Southeast Europe: New Approaches and Shared Responsibilities, held at the Boyana Residence. Prior to it, President Georgi Parvanov decorated NATO Secretary General George Robertson with the highest Bulgarian award, the Order of the Balkan Range First Class, for his contribution to peace and security in the Western Balkans and for the invitation to Bulgaria to join NATO. NATO has invested serious political, financial and human resources in Southeast Europe and this investment bears fruit. Southeast Europe returns to Europe and conflicts in the region become increasingly less possible, he added. The Balkan countries must continue to build democracy, to root out crime and corruption and to establish the rule of law, he said. Robertson said that problems impeding progress range from economic stagnation to corruption and outdated military structures. PM Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha also took part in the forum, underscoring that for Bulgaria, the policy in the region is an integral part of the NATO and EU membership.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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September 15 2003, 11:19 AM
NATO begins joint naval exercise off Croatia.
ZAGREB, Sept 13 (AFP) - A joint naval exercise led by 14 NATO and partner countries began Saturday off Croatia's Adriatic coast.
The exercise, codenamed "Cooperative Engagement 2003," will continue until September 20, a defense ministry spokeswoman told AFP.
The exercise, focused on sea-rescue and anti-mine operations, began with 10 naval vessels entering the port of Split, in Croatia's southern Dalmatia region.
Taking part in the exercise will be some 500 troops, a dozen ships and five planes from NATO members Belgium, France, Greece and Italy, along with Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Latvia, countries invited to join the alliance, partner countries Albania, Croatia, Russia, Ukraine, as well as Egypt and Algeria.
Officials said the exercise was aimed at demonstrating NATO's capacity to integrate forces for partner countries in such operations.
The Cooperative Engagement exercise takes place every two years.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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September 17 2003, 3:58 PM
STAMBOLISKI: DEFENCE REFORMS ARE AIMED AT EFFICIENT ARMY AND NATO MEMBERSHIP.
MIA
Macedonia's program for the Armed Forces reform 2002-07 is aimed to create efficient structure, capable to defend the country from all possible threats, Chief of the Army Staff General Metodi Stamboliski said Wednesday at the "Macedonia in NATO 2003-2006" Forum.
"The reforms are also part of preparations for Macedonia's future membership in NATO. Planing and analyzing process is focused on training, equipping, interoperability, identification and potential of units for participation in NATO-led operations", Stamboliski said.
The number of regular army would be at 12,858 persons - 70 percent professionals and 30 percent recruits, while the reserve composition will be at about 26.000.
"Only new large-scale conflicts in the region or radical decline of the political elite enthusiasm for conducting reforms may obstruct the country's accession to NATO regarding the current political and strategic ambiance, President's National Security Advisor Stevo Pendarovski said in his address "Regional Approach and bringing Macedonia closer to the Euro-Atlantic institutions.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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September 18 2003, 9:46 AM
Passy: NATO is a Chance for the Balkans.
Standartnews
Svetoslav Abrossimov
The NATO will give opportunities to this country as to the control over weapon export, in the process of Bulgaria's integration into the Treaty, Foreign Minister Solomon Passy said at the opening of the international conference "The contemporary control over weapon export in the process of Bulgaria's integration into the NATO. The Alliance, in addition, may help Balkan countries, which are trying to curb trafficking in weapon and people, as well as against drug traffic and counterfeiting money, Foreign Minister Solomon Passy said.
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Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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September 22 2003, 5:46 PM
Dutch FM to Replace Robertson as NATO Chief.
Novinite.com
Politics: 22 September 2003, Monday
The NATO allies Monday picked Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as the alliance's next secretary general.
The alliance said the ambassadors of the 19 NATO nations agreed De Hoop Scheffer will succeed Britain's Lord Robertson, who is stepping down in December after serving his four-year term.
"As foreign minister, he has impressed all his colleagues with his judgment and grasp of the issues," Robertson said in a statement. "These are challenging times for NATO ... and I am delighted that we have found the right man to ensure NATO remains the world's most successful defense alliance."
Canada and France held up an agreement on De Hoop Scheffer last week. France wanted more time to discuss the issue and Canada stuck by its candidate, Canadian Finance Minister John Manley, who was the Dutchman's main rival for NATO's top job.
Manley failed to rally support from European allies reluctant to relinquish their traditional hold on the secretary-general's post.
De Hoop Scheffer is seen as a bridge maker between the United States and those European allies whose opposition to the Iraq war earlier this year prompted NATO's deepest split for years.
The Dutch government supported the war but avoided taking a high profile in the dispute with NATO's anti-war nations led by France and Germany.
He is the third Dutchman to head the alliance, following Joseph Luns, who died last year at the age of 90 and who guided NATO through the Cold War years from 1971 to 1984, and Dirk Stikker who was secretary general from 1961 to 1964.
The NATO-led naval exercise "Cooperative Engagement" -- which involved ten ships, five aircraft and 500 soldiers from 13 member states of NATO and its Partnership for Peace programme -- ended on Friday in a naval training area between the southern Adriatic islands of Brac and Hvar.
Croatia participated in the exercise with two patrol ships and a helicopter. The exercise was designed as a search and rescue operation at sea following a mock terrorist attack on a ship.
NATO Southern Command spokesman Lieutenant Commander Harvey Burwin said all the participants had reached a high level of coordination by successfully overcoming language barriers and adjusting to different command systems.
Asked if Croatia had shown it was ready to join NATO, Burwin replied that the purpose of the exercise was not to assess Croatia's readiness to enter the alliance, but to train different navies for a joint operation in accordance with NATO standards.
Croatia has proved to be an excellent host and its navy has shown that it is capable of any joint operation under NATO standards, Commander Nigel Williams, who was in charge of the exercise, said after the ships returned to Split's naval port of Lora.
The Croatian Navy personnel were led by Commander Predrag Stipanovic, who said that the exercise was yet another step towards NATO membership through completion of missions within the Partnership for Peace programme.
Stipanovic said that particular care was taken so as not to disturb the peace of the local population and tourists vacationing in the area. He added that no complaints had been received from port authorities.
The exercise "Cooperative Engagement" is held every two years in different country. This year it involved 13 countries -- NATO members: Belgium, France, Greece and Italy; partner countries and members of the Partnership for Peace programme: Albania, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania, Slovenia and Croatia; and Algeria as a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue programme.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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September 29 2003, 1:52 PM
Jane's Intelligence Digest: Robertson Suspends Slovakia's NATO Ratification.
Novinite.com
Politics: 29 September 2003, Monday
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson has reportedly recommended NATO member states to suspend the ratification of Slovakia's accession to the Alliance, according to British journal Jane's Intelligence Digest.
The report says the move was prompted by the current controversy surrounding Premier Mikulas Dzurinda's efforts to dismiss the head of the National Security Office (NBU) Jan Mojzis.
Slovakia is one of seven former Eastern-bloc countries due to join NATO in 2004. Ratification has so far been approved by the United States, Canada, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Italy, and Norway, and it is still to be completed by Great Britain, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Greece, France, Belgium, and Iceland.
The move can reflect on Slovakia's relations with the European Union, which it hopes to enter in May 2004 due to EU agreement to comply with NATO decisions on the state of the new member states.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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September 29 2003, 2:00 PM
NATO States Deny Being Asked to Suspend Ratification of Slovakia.
Brussels, September 26 (TASR-SLOVAKIA correspondent) - NATO member states are denying that NATO Secretary-General George Robertson has recommended them to suspend the ratification of Slovakia's accession to the Alliance.
According to British journal Jane's Intelligence Digest, those states still to ratify NATO enlargement were recommended to suspend approval for Slovakia due to the current controversy surrounding Premier Mikulas Dzurinda's efforts to dismiss the head of the National Security Office (NBU) Jan Mojzis.
But at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, diplomats from the respective countries expressed surprise at the report and insisted that the ratification process was on track.
Slovakia is one of seven former Eastern-bloc countries due to join NATO in 2004.
According to the sources, Lord Robertson is only following whether everything is being done to complete ratification on schedule.
French sources confirmed that Paris intends to ratify the entry of all seven countries - Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria and Romania.
Dutch sources said the process was continuing and should be completed by next spring.
A British source said: "The NATO Secretary General's Office has already denied the article, and we have nothing to add."
NATO spokesperson Robert Pszczel also denied the information on Thursday, and rebutted Jane's assertion that the Alliance had ordered its employees to limit their contact with Slovak representatives.
Also, this week Deputy Defence Minister Martin Fedor had held talks with top NATO representatives, and Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok is due to arrive in Brussels for talks on Monday (September 29).
Ratification has so far been approved by the United States, Canada, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Italy, and Norway, and it is still to be completed by Great Britain, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Greece, France, Belgium, and Iceland.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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October 1 2003, 11:21 AM
Norway Defence Chief Congratulated Bulgaria on its NATO Invitation.
Novinite.com
Politics: 1 October 2003, Wednesday
Norway's Defence Chief Gen. Sigurd Frisvold congratulated Bulgaria Wednesday on the invitation the country received to join NATO in 2004. The general arrived Wednesday in Sofia to meet his Bulgarian counterpart Gen. Nikola Kolev, officials said.
Frisvold was welcomed to Bulgaria with a special ceremony at the Alexander Nevski Square, where he laid a bouquet in front of the Monument of the Unknown Soldier.
The initiative for the visit came from Kolev, who is chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army. The two generals discussed possible mutual aid in the military sphere.
So far cooperation between Bulgaria and Norway in this sphere has been excellent, Frisvold said after the meeting.
This article tries to hide the existence of fundamentalism in the Balkans!!
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October 7 2003, 8:58 AM
Al Qaeda Bogeyman at Work as U.S. Rethinks Balkans.
By Douglas Hamilton
SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Serb and Croat nationalists are warning Washington that Bosnia's Muslims will let Al Qaeda infest the soft underbelly of Europe, unless they are called in to guarantee security should the U.S. military quit the Balkans.
Western diplomats in the region discount the threat. They believe the nationalists' real goal, as ever, is to isolate the Muslims and split Bosnia on ethnic lines, while winning kudos as America's staunch ally in some "clash of civilizations."
But they worry that scare-mongering may sway Congress.
An October article in the Washington Times says Bosnia "now serves as a base" for Al Qaeda. Croats are the best U.S. ally on the "front-lines in the war against Islamic terrorism in the Balkans" and can be its "eyes and ears," the Times says.
A new paper by U.S. think tank Strategic Forecasting also calls the Balkans a "frontier conflict...in the U.S. war against the Islamist world," but proposes that Serbs handle security.
This is news to Westerners who live in the Balkans, where ethnic rather than religious friction is the real concern. A senior diplomat notes that the September 11 hijackers planted cells in the cities of Western Europe and the United States.
MORE BARS THAN MOSQUES.
Since the September 2001 attacks, Washington has mostly ignored the Balkans. The influential, neo-conservative Project for the American Century and the American Enterprise Institute have both said little about it on their Web Sites since 2000.
The idea of extracting 4,000 U.S. troops from NATO peace missions in Bosnia and Kosovo was raised in September by visiting General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, as a means of partially relieving U.S. overstretch in Iraq.
If this puts a Balkan pullout on the 2004 election agenda, the Al Qaeda scare could blacken the image of Bosnian Muslims and benefit those vying to be what the Times, in an echo of the 13th century Crusades, called the "rampart of Christendom."
There are seven million Muslims in the Balkans. But this is not Afghanistan, Chechnya or the Middle East.
It is customary to remove shoes on entering a home, but veiled faces and long beards are rare. There are more bars than mosques, serving women in jeans. Life does not come to a halt five times a day for prayer, and Sharia law is not an option.
There is no growing fundamentalist fervor and no deep resentment of or hostility to America -- rather the reverse.
There is no "war" or terrorist emergency. The main priority of secular governments in Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia is to complete reforms so they can join the European Union.
The Washington Times, however, states that a "resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism in Bosnia...seeks to either wipe out or convert all Christians in the region."
Strategic Forecasting says Islamists in Albania and Bosnia are able "to hit U.S. troops in both areas." A Balkan Al Qaeda, it warns, "could explode in Washington's face at any time."
Both analyzes cite sparse and questionable anecdotal evidence as the basis for their alarming conclusions.
"INSULTING AND INACCURATE"
The fundamentalist bogeyman serves as an "I-told-you-so" justification for vicious treatment of Muslims by their Serb and Croat neighbors in the wars of 1992-95. Potentially, it can help wreck the Dayton pact that has bound Bosnia since 1996.
The idea of consigning Balkan security to the Serbs, whose two wartime leaders are on the run from charges of genocide, meets with incredulity.
Bosnia's International High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, rejected the Times' "insulting and inaccurate prejudices from afar" insisting it "is not a terrorist base nor will become one."
"Those of us who live in the Balkans have yet to see any evidence of Islamic terrorism," he told the newspaper.
The Turkish Ottoman empire occupied the Balkans for 400 years from the 15th century, introducing a tolerant Islam. But communist secularization greatly eroded its influence.
Balkans Islamic scholars told Reuters the "white Al Qaeda" scare relies on ignorance of the faith and of Muslim gratitude for America's role in stopping Serb aggression.
Today, about 10 percent of Bosnian Muslims attend Friday prayers, said Ahmet Alibasic of Sarajevo's Faculty of Islamic Studies. But the number of those praying five times a day -- the key measure of devoutness -- is maybe just a few percent.
Stalinist Albania banned religion in 1967, declaring an atheist state and turning mosques and churches into warehouses. Religion has not revived strongly since communism fell in 1991.
"Islam in Albania has a peripheral dimension because it has been away for too long," said Islamic poet Ervin Hatibi.
Next door in Kosovo, where Muslim Albanians number two million or 90 percent of the population, a similar picture emerges: the percentage of fervent believers is quite small.
The soil for extremism, as Ashdown said, is no more fertile here than in U.S. or Western Europe cities where the September 11 hijackers planted their cells. Even if it were, tolerating extremism would be the fastest way to kill U.S. support for united Bosnia and Kosovo's hopes of independence from Serbia.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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October 13 2003, 11:16 AM
Bulgarian Minister: US Will Move Bases to Bulgaria, Romania.
Novinite.com
Politics: 12 October 2003, Sunday
The United States will re-distribute its military bases and the most likely new locations are Bulgaria and Romania, Bulgaria's defense minister announced.
Minister Nikolay Svinarov said in an interview with local bTV television that Bulgaria which anticipates profits from hosting a US military base should stimulate Washington by having its Parliament declare consent.
In another development, the Defense Ministry in Sofia told Darik radio that Bulgaria should reply within two months to a request to join the anti-ballistic shield currently being developed by the United States and Canada.
The minister's statement comes days after Germany's Sueddeutsche newspaper reported the US government is considering stationing defensive missiles in a number of European countries against a potential attack from Iran.
US defence policy specialist Benjamin Schreer of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs told the newspaper that Romania and Bulgaria could be the "first choices."
The daily quoted a high-ranking US diplomat as saying that the Americans would like to develop a defensive missile network with Europeans but doubted whether a deal could be reached quickly by NATO.
Because of these concerns, Washington may pursue bilateral agreements with individual European countries for deployment in 2006 anti-ballistic systems in exchange for economic aid, the Sueddeutsche said.
This message has been edited by TsarSamuil from IP address 212.181.9.227 on Oct 13, 2003 11:31 AM
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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October 14 2003, 9:53 AM
Defense Minister Svinarov: US Will Move Bases to Bulgaria.
Standartnews
The United States will re-distribute their military bases and the most likely new locations are Bulgaria and Romania, Bulgaria's defense minister announced for the bTV a day after coming back from the US. Minister Nikolay Svinarov said that Bulgaria's Parliament should declare consent. Bulgaria should reply within two months to a request to join the anti-ballistic shield currently being developed by the United States and Canada. Svinarov said further that he expected the PM to take a decision on the case with Ret. Gen. Brigo Asparukhov's appointment as PM's advisor on the special services very soon, as all the ministers had already submitted their opinions about the matter.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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October 15 2003, 12:01 PM
Minister States in Washington Bulgaria Is Willing to Host Bases.
Novinite.com
Politics: 15 October 2003, Wednesday
Bulgaria is a potential candidate to host NATO military bases. This is what the country's Finance Minister Milen Velchev said following his meeting in Washington with US Undersecretary of State Allen Larson.
"We discussed the issue of possible NATO bases in Bulgaria but I guess the Pentagon will release more details," Velchev pointed out.
A few days ago, Bulgaria's Defense Minister Nikolay Svinarov stated the United States would re-distribute their bases and Bulgaria and Romania are the most likely new locations. He insisted Bulgaria should encourage Washington by having its Parliament declare consent.
These ministerial statements come after world media hinted the US government is considering stationing defensive missiles in a number of European countries against a potential attack from Iran with Romania and Bulgaria being the first choices.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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October 15 2003, 5:27 PM
Nato launches rapid Response Force today.
jang-group.com
"BRUSSELS: NATO will inaugurate on Wednesday (today) a rapid response force eventually totalling 20,000 troops to dramatically extend the military alliances reach in the fight against terrorism.
US General James Jones, the 19-member Alliances supreme commander, will launch the force in a ceremony at the Dutch military base of Brunssum, home of NATOs northern command.
The contingent, which will only reach its full capacity in 2006, represents a radical doctrinal departure for the 54-year-old Alliance originally conceived to protect the West from the Soviet threat.
It also comes only two months after NATO began its first-ever "out of area" mission outside its traditional European theatre of operations by taking command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
The NATO Response Force (NRF) called an "expeditionary" unit in Alliance jargon, will comprise naval, airborne and ground forces capable of deploying to hotspots around the globe within five days. It will be able to sustain itself for up to one month or longer if re-supplied. "Its not being created for pre-emption, but to respond to crises," said a NATO official.
The US proposal to launch the force was approved at a landmark NATO summit in Prague last November, at which the Alliance also formally approved its expansion to 26 members due to take place next year.
NATO defence ministers then approved how the force will work in June. Since then Alliance military planners have been coordinating offers of men and material from member states to build an "initial operational capacity."
The forces potential on the ground was tested last week at a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Colorado Springs, in a fictional scenario involving a terrorist threat in 2007 somewhere in the Red Sea. "We were given very clear political guidance to change; the instrument of change is the NRF," General Jones said recently.
Initially the force, which will not have a home base, will comprise some 6,000 troops, growing to its full capacity of 20,000 over the next two to three years.
France, which is not part of NATOs integrated military command, has offered to provide a 500-strong battalion and aircraft including one AWACS radar surveillance plane.
The force is set to be able to deploy in response to threats worldwide, gradually building to its full potential of tasks ranging from evacuation situations to responding to terrorist acts.
While the military commanders are trigger-ready to deploy wherever and whenever needed, one potential problem may be in taking the political decision to send the force into a given situation.
NATO works by consensus, so any decision must be agreed by all member states. In some countries national parliaments must authorise any foreign deployment of troops.
In Colorado Springs ministers agreed to study ways of speeding up this decision-making process, with results expected by December.
The forces launch will come two days after the UN Security Council voted unanimously to allow the NATO-led peacekeepers in Afghanistan to expand their work beyond the capital Kabul.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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October 16 2003, 12:30 PM
Powell: Bulgaria Is Interested in Hosting US Military Presence.
Novinite.com
Top news: 16 October 2003, Thursday
The possibility to station US military bases in Bulgaria was discussed by US State Secretary Collin Powel and two of Bulgaria's top statesmen for a half an hour in Washington. Following the conversation, Powell announced that Bulgaria is interested in hosting US military presence "in case this is found to be of bilateral benefit."
After the meeting with Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Ognyan Gerdzhikov and Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, Powell specified that the issue would be discussed by the Pentagon and the Bulgarian military. He said that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is still mulling possible re-distribution of the US overseas bases.
A few days ago, Bulgaria's Defense Minister Nikolay Svinarov stated Bulgaria and Romania are the most likely new locations for US bases. He insisted Bulgaria should encourage Washington by having its Parliament declare consent.
These statements come after world media hinted the US government is considering stationing defensive missiles in a number of European countries against a potential attack from Iran with Romania and Bulgaria being the first choices.
The Bulgarian delegation which is in the United States on occasion of 100 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, used the opportunity to invite President George W Bush to visit Sofia.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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October 20 2003, 11:21 AM
US Decides on Stationing of Military Bases in Bulgaria in "3 Months"
Novinite.com
Politics: 19 October 2003, Sunday
The US would decide on the stationing of military bases in Bulgaria within three months, Janusz Bugajski an expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International studies told Bulgarian TV channel bTV.
Bugajski also forecasted an augment in the Bulgarian-American military cooperation over the next years. When asked what would the US bases stationed in Bulgaria be, Bugajski said that they would be of all kinds.
He also explained that as far as he knows the US government plans the stationing of several small bases.
Bugajski explained that a year ago the stationing of US bases in Bulgaria was just an idea, while now it a serious plan that is being worked on.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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October 20 2003, 4:47 PM
Readers say:
teresa 19 Oct 2003 [ 20:29:15 ] [ reply ]
We have just finish with the Soviet ....now the Yankee !
US GO HOME !!!
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Devon, UK 19 Oct 2003 [ 23:32:50 ] [ reply ]
Teresa,
You need the US alot more then the US needs you. Help yourself if you're so self sufficient. An attitude like yours is simply ridiculous. Your "Government" is begging for the Americans to arrive, because you are so poor and needy of monetary help. Comparing The Americans to The Russians is ludicrous. Please don't be so ignorant.
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Steph 20 Oct 2003 [ 00:33:24 ] [ reply ]
Devon,
Sorry but you are not better that Theresa; not only ignorant but snob and without any reason. It would be better to learn not a bit more but a much, much more History and Geography(not only about the Empire) and then you would realise that at one time or the other that was and probably still is a very important, strategic region. As for that bulgarians are poor, that to some extend is to the poor strategy for the transition period(admitted now to be devised on the graduate level)forced on them.Have ever asked yourself the question whther could the english win the WWII without american participation and help during the war and after.
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Devon UK 20 Oct 2003 [ 01:29:22 ] [ reply ]
Steph,
That is exactly why The US is our closest allie you fool. We appreciate the help the Americans have given us in the past and no doubt will give us in the future aswell. We are deeply indebted to the US. Poor Bulgaria, you cry how bad it is there but no one seems to care enough to do anything about the problems, just keep on blaming someone else. That will REALLY get you somewhere!
Teresa you ignorant fool,
I probably know more about Bulgaria then you do. I have been to Sofia and to tell you the truth I could not wait to leave, have you ever heard of flush toilettes?, your rest rooms are DISGUSTINGLY dirty! Your streets are littered with rubbish and it is such a dirty rotten filthy city. So yes, I will go back to the pub at least I can afford to and I don't have to worry about some corrupt idiot spoiling my fun!
Have fun, keep on begging, maybe one day you'll realize no one can help you until you help yourself. Stop blaming it in your corrupt government!!!!! Get up and do something, perhaps start by cleaning up the rotten mess all over the place. Sofia is the dirtiest rottenest city I have ever been to. I would never return to your city or country if you paid me a million pounds!
Shame none of you can afford to travel then you'd realize how bad off you really are, on second thought maybe it's better that you cant afford travel, because then you'd really cry out loud. Even more so then you already are, my heart bleeds piss for you!
Bulgarians think they know everything until it comes to solving their own problems, then you don't know ANYTHING except to blame others!
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Vibe 20 Oct 2003 [ 13:47:06 ] [ reply ]
Devon,
You must be a follower of the snobby noble general attitude of Uk people. For you everyone else is an "alien". So I suggest you check up on the history of Bulgarian people, to gain a fairer view of their values.
However, you guys have a policy to give your behinds (usually the US) to anybody, as long as the queen lives on. Pride? What pride?
Trust me, you are a very confused person. It is irrelevant to speak in such a way, when you come from the Uk. So to speak, this is the fifth year I spend in your country educating myself. Let me tell you, the happiest moment is at Heathrow. Departing from the cold country, bound by rules, obedience and formality.
Now my friend, to gain an accurate view of the world, you have to experience the "sweet & sour". I'm sure you feel so comfortable in the pub having a pint. What you do not truly understand is how limited your mind is, and how limited and inflexible your country is.
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Kardam 20 Oct 2003 [ 10:49:08 ] [ reply ]
Devon, you really do not know much about Bulgaria and your emdless ignorance makes it almost superfluous to answer to your hostile allegations. True, we have a lot of economic problems in Bulgaria, but almost half a century of central planning cannot be made up for immediately, and we are not as lucky as POL or CZ to border right next to Germany or other highly developed countries (don't come with Greece, ok). People should complain less and instead work harder to create the basis for more wealth, you are right. However, nothing justifies the way you are talking about this country. If you don't like it, then just don't go there, but you are missing out, dude. I am sorry for you that you are such a small ignorant person who does not know what he is talking about!
P.S. And actually, when I think of it, the dirtiest toilets I have ever seen in my life was not in Sofia, but in London. Not to talk about London underground which stinks more than any other metro system I have ever been to (and believe me, I have been to a lot of places)! So just keep the ball down and continue to eat your fatty bacon and ham!!
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plamenski 20 Oct 2003 [ 02:29:05 ] [ reply ]
Devon UK, if you hate us so much and quote "I would never return to your city or country if you paid me a million pounds!", why are you here? Doesn't make sense to me.
Take a deep breath and relax. Mummy loves you.
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A Bulgarian 20 Oct 2003 [ 10:20:14 ] [ reply ]
Wow... What a nice and polite words from that English so-called-gentleman... You can immediately understand that he comes from the land with so many traditions and anctient culture... You are shame for your nation, buddy... And as a personality you are just a brainless junk...
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Teresa 20 Oct 2003 [ 00:32:24 ] [ reply ]
Devon
Don't forget one thing .
That's many of the Bulgarian ministers are paid by the us (or ex-president like mr sty...)The ones
at the government who beg ...try to know their background ...
Poor man I don't thing that you know a lot about Bulgaria ...go back to your pub !
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vesko 20 Oct 2003 [ 04:14:53 ] [ reply ]
Teresa, don't forget you are a bitch at the frontline (with Islam).
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Yane Nikolov 20 Oct 2003 [ 12:50:05 ] [ reply ]
"Devon" I think 'he' is a she
Poor Devon, so confused!
It's the other way around, lass! It's USA that needs Bulgaria a hellofamore than we need them. Bulgaria will enter the EU in 2007; we don't need USA for anything, NATO? NATO is crumbling because of the Franco-German alliance that are laying the seeds for a European Defense. USA needs Bulgaria, because we are at a very important geographic position, close to the Caucasus and the Middle East, close to the oil fields and we serve as an excellent base to launch operations on the war on terror. Bulgaria is just being smart of taking advantage of this.
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ujassss 20 Oct 2003 [ 16:38:34 ] [ reply ]
Devon, my dear! You obviously stem from a generation of brain-polished Newsweek-readers that lack the ability to come up with a logical explanation to a fact unless it's been fed to them by the almighty western media (it actually is)!! Consider this: the US is not actually helping countries its bases are deployed to, but just buys off the property and uses it for its own world-domination agenda. And what are your solid-ground reasons to believe the US could be a friend to any country whatsoever? Open your eyes, dear, you're what british and american media thrive on. Bring on the heat, I can guess know you have no clue what I am talking about... Cheers.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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October 21 2003, 11:26 AM
Slovakia/Bulgaria: Scandals Show That Building Trust Between NATO, New Members Will Pose Challenges.
By Kathleen Knox
Scandals in two NATO candidate countries are making headlines. In Slovakia, the prime minister is drawing criticism for trying to sack the head of the national security screening agency. In Bulgaria, the U.S. ambassador said the prime minister should abandon plans to appoint a communist-era spy as his security adviser. The incidents are throwing a spotlight on the difficulties of building trust between NATO and the new members set to join next year.
Prague, 1 October 2003 (RFE/RL) -- One prime minister wants to hire the wrong man. Another wants to fire the wrong man.
That, in a nutshell, is what's troubling officials from NATO member countries about recent top security changes in Bulgaria and Slovakia.
Slovakia is still reeling from Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda's attempts to fire the apparently well-regarded chief of the National Security Office (NBU), Jan Mojzis. The security watchdog vets officials to decide who should be granted access to sensitive information -- a crucial role, since Slovakia is joining NATO next year.
Dzurinda said last month that he'd lost trust in Mojzis, and later added charges of inappropriate political and economic interests against him.
But those accusations have been too vague to convince colleagues. Dzurinda's two attempts to have the cabinet sack Mojzis have failed.
In the meantime, Dzurinda sacked his defense minister, who refused to back him in the first cabinet vote.
The affair has clearly aroused NATO's interest, if not concern.
U.S. and British diplomats in the middle of the row gave the NBU its support. Local media said it was significant that Wayne Ryzchak, the head of NATO's security office, visited Bratislava as the drama was unfolding. And a NATO press officer says the alliance is "watching closely."
"Jane's Intelligence Digest" went the furthest, claiming NATO chief George Robertson recommended that member countries put ratification of Slovakia's membership on hold and limit contacts with Slovaks. However, that's been denied by both sides.
Peter Javurek, a commentator for the Slovak daily "SME," says of the diplomats' expressions of support: "It was clear that what they care about is the continuity of this screening process and the continuity of the NBU's work, which implies that Mojzis is for them a guarantee of that continuity and that they're worried that continuity will be lost."
In Bulgaria, Prime Minister Simeon Saxecoburggotski is under fire, too, this time for the man he wants to hire as his security adviser -- a former communist-era spy, Brigo Asparuhov.
U.S. Ambassador James Pardew called on Saxecoburggotski to change his mind.
In a statement last week, Pardew said: "The appointment [of Asparuhov] can affect the image of Bulgaria among alliance members. We recommend that the government consult fully with the NATO allies before going final with this decision."
There's no word yet on whether the U.S. intervention has worked, but a government spokesman says Asparuhov's appointment is now looking unsure.
Asparuhov, who is also a former head of Bulgaria's National Intelligence Service, dismissed Pardew's concerns. In an interview with RFE/RL's Georgi Koritarov (broadcast on RFE/BTV simulcast Blitz) yesterday, Asparuhov blamed the row on his political foes.
Asparuhov: "In 1991, as head of the Bulgarian counter-intelligence, I had contacts with the Americans, their secret services and all the European secret services without exception, and the assessments of our joint work in those six years were excellent, and there are facts to prove it."
Koritarov: "So how would you explain the opinions that ... "
Asparuhov: "If any representative of a foreign government wants to check that, they can do it without a problem."
Koritarov: "So how would you explain this hardline U.S. position?"
Asparuhov: "I have no explanation except that this position is the result of insinuations by domestic factors [political opponents] against an unpopular person like myself."
The two cases highlight the difficulties facing NATO and candidate countries in establishing the trust needed for them to share classified intelligence information.
Stephen Blackwell is head of the European Security Program at Britain's Royal United Services Institute: "I think [the two cases] reflect a general concern. Obviously, this is potentially a major problem for NATO enlargement, given the prevalence of former communist-era intelligence operatives within these countries."
It's not just these two countries. Romania, for example, has long been a source of Western concern. Bucharest's intelligence service is stuffed with former communist-era secret police officers, and former Securitate members still wield great influence in politics and business.
And the worry isn't just about communist-era agents. Blackwell says NATO is worried about the possibility of operatives being linked to organized crime -- or of handling NATO secrets and passing them to foreign intelligence services, notably Russia's.
"But a more immediate concern -- organized crime is also an issue -- is that the information might be passed on to terrorist groups who might use it against NATO members," Blackwell says.
To be sure, leaks are not a problem limited to candidate countries. Two years ago, a senior French army officer was found guilty of leaking secret NATO bombing plans to Yugoslavia before the Kosovo conflict.
"This is why there's close Anglo-American cooperation over intelligence sharing and exchanges of other military information because there's this long-established tradition of trust. The two countries in this instance [the U.S. and Britain] see each other as being very reliable in terms of their staff and the handling of secrets. What this general problem might reinforce is the tendency of NATO to evolve into coalitions of the willing with specific issues and crises being dealt with by ad hoc groups of states. This issue tends to reinforce that tendency, where countries that have a political problem with a certain issue or certain region might opt out or may be asked to stand aside," Blackwell said.
Observers like Blackwell and Javurek say the recent concerns over Slovakia and Bulgaria are not enough to derail enlargement, but they could have an impact on how a problematic candidate country is treated once it joins.
Javurek says if any doubt is cast on Slovakia's vetting process, the country could end up partially isolated within the alliance.
"As far as I know, several thousands of people who are important in this process still have to be vetted before NATO membership. If for any reason this process either becomes untrustworthy because of the new director or it slows down, then I think [partial isolation] could happen, because Slovakia wouldn't be able to offer all the full number of people for the posts that are important for NATO."
(RFE/RL's Slovak, Romanian, and Bulgarian services contributed to this report.)
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
No score for this post
October 21 2003, 11:37 AM
NATO's Eastern Enchantment.
Antiwar.com
by Christopher Deliso
October 21, 2003
Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has frequently been dubbed an alliance in search of a purpose. If restricted to its historic mandate as an organization for mutual self-defense, it should have disintegrated together with the Soviet Union. Fortunately for the terminally-ill alliance, Europe's alleged failure with Yugoslav peacekeeping in the 1990's took it off of life support. Bosnia, and later Kosovo, provided NATO with a renewed (albeit manufactured) sense of relevance, urgency and historic import. Thenceforth, NATO would be known as the alliance for righteous humanitarian intervention.
After 9/11, with no one feeling particularly humanitarian anymore, NATO was saved yet again when it was transformed into an anti-terror organization. This latest incarnation was crystallized this week, in the form of an "elite rapid reaction force." The contingent, currently 9,000-strong, will expand to 20,000 soldiers within 3 years. The force is intended to " be able to deploy within five to 30 days to deal with operations ranging from evacuations and peacekeeping to counterterrorism or high-intensity combat." The transformation process is crucial and continuous, as NATO Supreme Commander James E. Jones recently said. According to him,
" we are really consumed with trying to define once and for all, in a way that makes understandable sense, NATO's true military requirement for the 21st century."
Confusion in the Ranks.
However, the lack of geographical restriction on operations is making NATO appear more like some kind of US Worldwide Auxiliary Army. And indeed, America's big military contractors are quite happy to check off an ever-increasing NATO wish list, as the alliance seeks to modernize and upgrade its technology. Washington is now strongly suggesting that its European allies allocate at least 2 percent of national GDP for defense, and fire unneeded soldiers to free up more cash for buying American-made goodies.
However, despite its new lease on life, NATO's essential mission is still somewhat ambivalent. While apologists like General Jones declare it to be a fighting force for the 21st Century, recent events indicate that the alliance is still fundamentally mired in its Cold War past. Due perhaps to the advanced age of many in the Pentagon today, a pervasive Russophobia is preventing NATO from keeping its eye on the ball. Cold War dinosaurs in the Bush Administration push NATO expansion in countries bordering on Russia. This sends mixed signals not only to the Russians but to the wider Western public, which might like to know exactly what its tax dollars are subsidizing the alliance to do. Indeed, does NATO still exist in order to fight (Islamic) terror, or merely to contain Russia?
As recent events in the "New Europe" have shown, this is now causing a chronic misreading of events that, if continued, will only harm NATO's future. At the same time, this erroneous obsession with Russia will perpetuate the same ambivalence of mission, and ensure that events now taking place in Eastern Europe will remain misunderstood. These factors cannot be good for the future of an alliance that has flirted with death twice in the last five years.
The Looming Problem.
To illustrate this thesis, we must turn to recent events in the "New Europe" that Rumsfeldian nomenclature for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe that were purchased cheap politically and which represent a fallow field for US arms contractors.
Nowadays, the major problem for the expanding alliance is that of security and intelligence sharing. This has been highlighted most recently by contentious events in Slovakia and Bulgaria, two countries which Washington has praised mightily in the past. The US, afraid that similar events could occur in other new NATO states, paradoxically underestimates the likelihood of this while overestimating and misinterpreting its significance. We turn first to Slovakia.
Slovakia: Where's the Trust?
On 23 September, a cryptic report from the respected Jane's Intelligence Digest claimed that NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson was urging NATO members to stay away from the Slovaks, and to suspend ratification of Slovakia's NATO membership. This followed Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda's recent sacking of Jan Mojzis, chief of Slovakia's National Security Office (NBU). According to RFE/RL,
" the security watchdog vets officials to decide who should be granted access to sensitive information a crucial role, since Slovakia is joining NATO next year."
On 5 October, Dzurinda succeeded in firing Mojzis. While the issue is complex and somewhat murky, it apparently boils down to a rivalry between Slovakia's two security services. The NBU is perceived as being more NATO-friendly, whereas the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS), favored by the Prime Minister, is rumored to have more unsavory connections. In an earlier analysis, Jane's had reported that the SIS
" was involved in illegal activities, including arms-trading, that it recruited active journalists, and that plenty of former communist secret agents (tB) work in the SIS.
the SIS was also involved in an illegal wire-tapping scam surrounding the independent daily newspaper SME; SIS later described the case as a being a result of a "technical problem."
Picking up on the story, a security analyst with Slovakia's Institute for Public Affairs, Jozef Majchrįk stated that while Slovakia will not be prevented from entering NATO, " it is definitely possible that it won't have equal access to classified NATO information."
Despite being quickly denounced by both Prime Minister Dzurinda and by NATO, the Jane's report had its effect. The replacement candidate for the NBU top spot has been reported to be one Milan Jeovica, an advisor of Dzurinda's who formerly worked at the Slovak Embassy in Washington. However, according to Jane's, Jeovica "is hardly likely to be received with any enthusiasm in Brussels" as he is a graduate of the Moscow State Institute for International Relations, "in the past a notorious recruitment ground for Soviet-era agents."
Boris and Natasha Infiltrate NATO!
This is the crux of the problem for a NATO set on eastward expansion. And it has surfaced not only in Slovakia, but also in Bulgaria, and hypothetically in every Eastern European country once associated with Russia. That is to say, the perceived danger of Soviet-era spies lurking in government ministries. Look out, they could be anywhere!
However, as usual, American planners have lost the plot. Is NATO's "transformation" intended to make it a streamlined anti-terrorist fighting force, or just a souped-up device for Russian containment? NATO's unreasonable Russophobia is easily explicable, however, when we consider the kind of Cold War dinosaurs now in charge at the Pentagon.
Bulgaria's Blunder: the Asparukhov Affair
American officials were taken aback, to put it mildly, when Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxecoburggotski recently nominated a former Soviet spymaster to be his personal security advisor. The prime minister was talking tough on the appointment of General Brigo Asparukhov as recently as last week, until a barrage of diplomatic intervention and Western media reports forced him to abort the mission on Wednesday. Reported the BBC,
" General Brigo Asparukhov, who worked for Bulgarian intelligence for more than two decades when it was an ally of the Soviet Union, announced on Wednesday that he was no longer interested in the post.
His planned appointment had been strongly criticised by Nato, the United States and Britain, which said he would compromise the security of the western alliance. Announcing the decision, Bulgarian Government spokesman Dimitar Tsonev said Mr. Asparukhov did not want to harm Sofia's bid to join Nato and the European Union. He 'did not want his name to be linked to eventual obstacles in the process of Bulgaria's integration to the Euro-Atlantic structures', according to the spokesman.
Mr. Asparukhov added that he had been the target of 'illegitimate attacks' and 'lies,' the spokesman said."
Last week, when the Bulgarian prime minister was still considering appointing Asparukhov, NATO leaders not only objected but "made it clear" that the former Communist " be kept away from the Alliance's classified information." Further, US Ambassador James Pardew warned that Asparukhov's appointment could "potentially hurt" Bulgaria's international "prestige."
What the controversial, seasoned Balkan diplomat meant, of course, was that America would not tolerate anyone who no matter how experienced had worked for the Evil Empire. I imagine this would eliminate a large percentage of the potential human resource pool and not only in Bulgaria. Be that as it may,
" Bruce Jackson, president of the U.S. Committee on NATO Enlargement, said that officials in Washington were "stunned" and "worried" by the news of Asparuhov's appointment, local media reported. Jackson described the development as a "step back" for Bulgaria and hinted that the appointment might be viewed as an outright insult by Washington.
In the meantime, Western experts say that Bulgaria could be denied access to the alliance's classified information if the controversial former intelligence chief is serving as a security advisor."
Again, as with Slovakia, the obsession with denying "classified information" is stressed. However, in both cases NATO and the US do not have to search so far as Moscow, when the truth lies much closer.
Political Infighting, Not a Communist Plot, Is to Blame
"In 1991," complained Asparukhov in a recent interview, "as head of the Bulgarian counter-intelligence, I had contacts with the Americans, their secret services and all the European secret services without exception, and the assessments of our joint work in those six years were excellent, and there are facts to prove it."
With the Bulgarian elections of 1997, Asparukhov was replaced by the new government of Ivan Kostov. The next year, he became head of the Socialist Party, and held a parliamentary seat until last month when he resigned to take up or so he thought the advisor's position for Prime Minister Saxecoburggotski. As with the Slovak situation, it seems more likely that internal political infighting is really behind the controversy and not some Russian plot. Indeed, George Tenet, for example, is an exception in that he has survived as CIA director under both Democratic and Republican administrations.
In Eastern Europe, government leaders are reflexively removed with each election (or sometimes, even before). The fact that half the time they have "Communist ties" has to do more with these countries' recent history than with some scheme to resuscitate the Soviet Union by ruining NATO. Every politician in Europe knows the score. What suppliant state today would want to go against the wishes of the world's only superpower?
However, this has not stopped the analysts from continuing to push the myth. Discussing Slovakia and Bulgaria, RFE/RL (in other words, the US Government) adds:
" the two cases highlight the difficulties facing NATO and candidate countries in establishing the trust needed for them to share classified intelligence information. Stephen Blackwell is head of the European Security Program at Britain's Royal United Services Institute: 'I think [the two cases] reflect a general concern. Obviously, this is potentially a major problem for NATO enlargement, given the prevalence of former communist-era intelligence operatives within these countries.'
It's not just these two countries. Romania, for example, has long been a source of Western concern. Bucharest's intelligence service is stuffed with former communist-era secret police officers, and former Securitate members still wield great influence in politics and business."
Well of course they are! Does the US expect these groups to be staffed by former Quakers? Does it believe that by wishful thinking it could somehow retroactively reverse the region's entire recent history?
A Flawed View.
The real obsession, of course, is with Russia. As the article reveals,
" Blackwell says NATO is worried about the possibility of operatives being linked to organized crime or of handling NATO secrets and passing them to foreign intelligence services, notably Russia's."
There is no country in the "new Europe" that is in danger of reverting to Communism. However, the "Communist" charge is still sufficiently scary in some quarters that European political rivals can smear one another with it when trying to curry favor with the US. Yet all too often, America and its Western allies fail to judge the situation for what is, that is, a byproduct of political infighting and nothing more. In fact, the danger NATO faces next year, when expanded to 26 members, is that similar internal feuds will prevent the alliance from coming to the necessary consensus for action. The Russians have nothing to do with this; they just have to sit back and enjoy a good laugh.
Decision-Making, Or a Lack Thereof.
According to the recently unveiled annual report of the respected International Institute of Strategic Studies, NATO's key problem remains " the issue of consensual decision-making, which is necessary in order to mount military operations." The report contends that NATO's very credibility depends upon how it resolves this problem. Blackwell also evokes this issue, claiming that while NATO leaders America and Britain "see each other as being very reliable" in intelligence sharing, this trust does not extend very far. In the end,
"' what this general problem might reinforce is the tendency of NATO to evolve into coalitions of the willing with specific issues and crises being dealt with by ad hoc groups of states. This issue tends to reinforce that tendency, where countries that have a political problem with a certain issue or certain region might opt out or may be asked to stand aside,' Blackwell said."
It is unclear how NATO as it has traditionally been understood could survive when fragmented into "coalitions of the willing" and "ad hoc groups." However, as the recent problems with Slovakia and Bulgaria have shown, the likelihood for disagreement, turbulence and general mistrust is only bound to increase with the passage of time and the expansion of the alliance. Indeed, NATO's enchantment with the east may prove its undoing.
Parting Shots.
We can close here with two more brief examples. In January, the Pentagon set up a training camp for Iraqi "civil administrators" in the south Hungarian town of Kaposvar. It caused deep unease among the local population and government to find out (unofficially) that armed militias were actually being trained there. When I asked a Hungarian defense attaché what the Americans were up to, he replied, "I don't know and I don't want to know." More recently, NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson has shown increased frustration with an allegedly non-compliant Hungarian Parliament. Robertson wants a quick approval for sending Hungarian troops to the new rapid reaction force. American officials have stated publicly that the laws of certain European states must be "streamlined" so that parliamentary approval becomes unnecessary for sending troops into war. This blatant interference with state sovereignty will only increase domestic opposition among opposition parties and nationalists, whom the US had better hope will simultaneously also be former Communists.
Hungary is not the only state in the "New Europe" to have large popular unease with being part of the American-led alliance. Imminent member Slovenia has also experienced quite substantial domestic opposition. Aspiring member Croatia was reluctant to support the US on Iraq. And Turkey, while a NATO member of long standing, also has a population that has been resolutely opposed to Western warmongering. As NATO veers further and further from its traditional mandate of self-defense, and becomes associated more and more closely with American rule, we are likely to see increasing popular opposition to the alliance.
Second, NATO has now promised Macedonia membership in the club by 2007; how will this possibly work when Macedonians in the intelligence and defense structures do not trust their Albanian colleagues, and vice versa? In the bigger picture, how will NATO effectively cooperate with its new members in sensitive matters, when many of them have weak institutions, high corruption and are prone to the kind of political volatility that makes for easy smears and scandals?
In the end, the West can blame all of these factors, but it shouldn't blame the Russians for interfering. After all, they don't have to push in order for NATO to fall flat on its face once again. If the trans-Atlantic runs into mortal danger again in the future, there is no guarantee that it will be saved for a third time which is why top military brass are taking the expansion process so seriously. Unfortunately for them, however, by obsessing over the wrong threats they remain stuck in the past. And that can't be good for finishing General Jones' all-consuming task, of finally coming to a consensus regarding " NATO's true military requirement for the 21st century."
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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October 21 2003, 12:35 PM
To: perplexed
I really don't know why they are worrying their heads about it. The old NATO is dead. The new alliance doesn't have a name yet, so we call it NATO for convenience, but it is something else.
Germany is no longer an ally. France is no longer an ally. Belgium, Greece, do we need to go on?
We are in the process of working out who is and who is not an ally. It is silly to worry about what France and Germany do with respect to NATO since in a fight they will not be there anyway. Get over it.
Reduce our presence in Brussels to a skeleton, and increase our staff in Madrid, Rome, Bucharest, Warsaw. Ankara. Delhi. Perth.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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October 21 2003, 12:39 PM
NATO commander says Black Sea of strategic importance for enlarged alliance.
spacewar.com ^ | Oct 14, 2003 | AFP
NATO commander says Black Sea of strategic importance for enlarged alliance.
SOFIA (AFP) Oct 14, 2003
The Black Sea will be of strategic importance in NATO after it takes in seven new members next year, among them Bulgaria, the alliance's top military commander in southern Europe said in Sofia Tuesday.
Admiral Gregory Johnson said Bulgaria, which lies on the Black Sea, could play a vital role in protecting the alliance's interest in the region.
"The Black Sea is going to become a very strategic path for the flow of ressources," Johnson said.
"The Bulgarian navy could play a very substantive role for the security of the southeastern flank of NATO. (It) can provide a valuable contribution for our collective security with proactive deployments in the Black Sea."
Bulgaria, a former communist state, is set join NATO along with Romania, which also borders on the Black Sea, as well as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Slovakia.
The Bulgarian navy is being reformed along NATO guidelines and will next year dispose of 62 ships compared to 90 in 1997.
The manpower of the Bulgarian military will be reduced by more than half from 95,450 soldiers in 1997 to 45,000 in 2004.
Projects abound to carry oil from regions east of the Black Sea to the West, with one project linking the Bulgarian port of Burgas to the Greek port of Alexandropolis.
The Burgas-Alexandropolis pipeline, a scheme dating back to the Soviet era, would carry oil pumped from Kazakhstan's Caspian shelf to Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiyisk on to Western markets.
A rival, US-backed project, now under construction is a pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey's Meditarranean port of Ceyhan.
The eastern Black Sea is also close to northern Iraq and Iran.
There is a compelling reason for the abiding American obsession with Russia: it is the real key to Europe achieving complete independence and superpower status. The presence of new US bases along an East European corridor makes all the more sense in this context. Despite China's latest moves to get closer to the EU, which are wise in view of the rise of the euro, it is Russia that figures at the center of European strategic thinking.
Let us assume that France and Germany embark on a joint rearmament program aiming at the 3 percent of GDP level, and that they tap Russia's military-industrial complex for the provision of defense-related goods and services. Russia's armed forces are being hollowed out for lack of resources. Her economy is exceedingly dependent on exports of raw materials. She may thus gain a new economic engine and be in a position to rebuild her military on an accelerated schedule.
France and Germany would likely require that Russia take steps to anchor herself to Europe once and for all. This would be consistent with Russia's growing trade with the European Union and current policy regarding the euro. Russia in return would likely ask for the forming of a Euro-Russian defense market that favors her defense industry and some kind of non-aggression pact.
Major oil producers would be encouraged to follow Russia's lead and begin a move to the euro as they see the rearmament program get underway, as it would portend the end of unchallenged US military dominance. This would drive the euro higher against other strong currencies including the dollar, further bolstering the European defense partners' ability to borrow in their own currency, while increasing the purchasing power of Russia's fast-growing euro reserves.
Likewise, major East Asian industrialized nations would also diversify their massive foreign currency reserves and bond holdings in favor of the euro.
Parity between the euro and the dollar as trade and reserve currencies would become a realistic objective, despite the barrier to exports for Europeans resulting from the euro's appreciation, as this would be offset to no small degree by the economic benefits of the rearmament program, the improved foreign investment picture for euro holders, the improved ability of EU countries to borrow in euros, and the continued depreciation of the dollar against other strong currencies.
Overall, these new trends would increasingly limit the ability of the United States to boost her military on de facto foreign credit, whilst a sudden reversal of low taxation policies would create a crisis between both major American parties and their donor bases. As Europe, and later Russia, compete for a growing share of international lending and investment, US defense spending would quickly rise to politically unsustainable levels as a proportion of the federal budget.
By the same token, America's massive imports of cheap consumer goods, together with the high level of direct foreign investment by US corporations, would have to be curbed due to the weakening dollar. This would translate into a major shift back toward productive investment in the domestic industrial base.
The US would thus be forced to agree to a globalization condominium with Europe. At home, the key effect of the realignment would be to restore significant economic and political clout to a reemerging industrial middle class, which would be in a position to demand that a greater share of federal expenditures be directed to domestic programs as opposed to the military and intelligence budgets. This new trend would further reduce the clout of the American military-industrial complex.
Even though this scenario is predicated on a massive arms race including strategic nuclear forces neither Europe nor Russia should seek to confront, much less threaten, the United States. There would be growing economic incentives for the rest of the EU to jump on the French-German-Russian defense bandwagon. The new European defense infrastructure would end up being retrofitted into NATO, thus making the EU America's equal within the alliance and ending NATO's utility to the US as an adjunct military force.
Aware of the two friendly military powers in Western and Central Eurasia, American public opinion would grow less tolerant of US supremacist tendencies and more positive about international organizations and treaties that prevent or manage tensions with Europe and Russia. This would encourage military disengagement by the US from Europe, a long-standing strategic objective for Russia and now also a key objective to achieve a European superpower.
Meanwhile, US incentives to engage in security cooperation with Europe and Russia in order to check growing Chinese power would only increase over time. If Japan wisely decided to align herself with the Europeans and the Russians, allowing the pact to span all of northern Eurasia, the strategic map would be redrawn in Asia as well. This would signal the dawn of a new balance of power in which both the US and China are militarily and economically outmatched by a vast Eurasian alliance.
Interesting analysis replete with conditional clauses. I think you assume far too logical decision-making from leaders who increasingly do not see any real big picture. Don't forget, though, that despite the apparent Euro-Russia friendship, WTO negotiations have proven very difficult because neither side wants to make too many concessions. And Western Europe is still happily in control over NATO together with the US (as you will see in a forthcoming article on my website, www.balkanalysis.com). I quote from the same press briefing, citing Gen. Jones as describing the "very successful" joint Mediterranean naval operation which he says has slashed illegal immigration to the West by 50 percent "thereby reducing the cost of commercial shipping insurance by 20 percent." Indeed, when Rummy was going on about shipping out of Germany, mayors of different German towns dependent on the US bases were lobbying in Washington to keep them. In fact, Gen. Jones reassured that NATO will keep operations in Germany, stating that it "doesn't make sense" to pick everything up and move 500 KM to the east. Besides, he also states that even despite its antiwar sentiment, Western Europe hosted significant percentages of necessary war cargo and was the vital staging post for US soldiers.
In the end, I believe I am correct to say that the combination of defense industry greed and the misplaced agenda of an eccentric but now powerful Pentagon gang is responsible for the Eastern push, more than fear of a scenario nearly so complex as you've described. You give them far too much credit!
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
No score for this post
November 3 2003, 2:23 PM
Bulgaria "Hasn't Met NATO's Requirement" for Secret Data Protection.
Novinite.com
Politics: 3 November 2003, Monday
The intelligence services of US and the Western European countries have insisted that the new countries NATO members should implement a stable protection to the secret military data, reads an article of the Parade magazine.
Upon their entry in the Alliance the new members would get an access to extremely confidential intelligence data, the magazine claims.
According to the Parade article only two of the future NATO members-Latvia and Lithuania- did actually meet the requirement for secret data protection. The other 5 countries, including Bulgaria so far do not meet that requirement. These 5 countries should carry out structural changes in some of their intelligence departments.
Western countries' anxiety was caused by the fact that some of these countries were still in close contacts to Russia or other former Soviet satellites and allies, including Iran. In connection to that NATO insisted for stricter measures for secret data protection.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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November 11 2003, 1:20 PM
NATO to Build up Their First Base in Varna.
Standartnews
Elena Dimitrova
It is quite probable that the first NATO naval center in this country will be built in the coastal city of Varna, Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Naval Forces - Fleet-admiral Emil Lyutskanov said. The building of a NATO naval base in this country has not been discussed with representatives of the Alliance, yet. However, negotiations have been conducted on building up of joint centers for the Bulgarian maritime belt, the fleet-admiral said. The analysis of the Bulgarian Naval Forces clearly shows that the trafficking in weapons may be moved in the Black Sea area, Fleet-admiral Lyutskanov said.
Three candidates for NATO membership from the former Soviet blocBulgaria, Romania, and Slovakiahave been simultaneously shaken by scandals linked to their secret services.
The strange thing about this coincidence was that it occurred exactly when the three states were approaching the finish line of their sprint to become part of NATO. In all three cases, NATO and the United States issued sharp unofficial protests. Analysts suspect that the long hand of Russias Federal Security Bureau (FSB) may be responsible for these problems with the secret services.
The conflict between Slovakia and NATO erupted in early September 2003, when Slovakias prime minister, Mikulas Dzurinda, tried to fire his intelligence chief, Jan Mojzis. The prime minister justified his decision by saying that Mojzis was part of a shadowy group of businessmen and politicians who were allegedly plotting against him. He was unable to substantiate his accusations, and the General Prosecutors Office refused to investigate the case. The bigger problem, however, was that Dzurinda angered the United States.
Mojzis is enjoying U.S. and British support as head of the intelligence service thanks to his uncompromising stance on the granting of licenses for handling NATOs classified information. The Western intelligence agencies value Mojzis as a crucial point man capable of keeping an eye on the flow of important information after Slovakia joins NATO. The backing that Mojzis is enjoying has so far prevented Dzurinda from removing him. Yet Milan Jezovica, whom the prime minister favors to succeed Mojzis, is increasingly mentioned in Bratislava. He is an adviser to the prime minister, a former number-two man in the Slovak Embassy in Washington, and a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
Some observers see many similarities between Mojzis case and that of Brigo Asparuhov [In September 2003, Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha designated former communist-era intelligence operative Brigo Asparuhov to become his special adviser on security and coordinator of the special services of the Bulgarian ministries of defense and the interior. Following strong NATO and U.S. pressure, and domestic controversy, the Soviet-trained reserve general reluctantly turned down the nomination on Oct. 15.WPR]...
In Romania, too, the secret services and the parliamentary committee that oversees their activities have been in conflict since early September. Romanian columnists guess that most probably the West is applying pressure on the deputies to clean up the intelligence network, ridding it of former members of the Securitate [fallen dictator Nicolae Ceausescus secret police]. The move has been met with stiff resistance on the part of the chiefs of the secret services. The representatives of the people also insist on greater transparency in the operations of the secret services and greater civilian control over their activities.
The squabbles between the secret services and the parliamentary committee are counterproductive. I hope that they will soon be over, Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase said. We need those services to remain strong, but there also should be efficient parliamentary control over themthe way it is everywhere in the world, he added.
The conflict flared up further following the dismissal of Vasile Iancu, Romanias deputy head of intelligence. Romanian deputies demanded an explanation from the director of the service, Alexandru-Radu Timofte, regarding the surprise shake-up. They said the removal of deputy spy chiefs could be done unilaterally, but should be decided by the Supreme Defense Council, a branch of the executive. In future, Timofte will have to signal which officers are to be discharged and on what grounds.
Janes Intelligence Review wrote in September that NATO and the Western intelligence services are worried about the connections some of NATOs pending members from Eastern Europe maintain with Russia. The publication also reported that the United States had voiced its concerns, namely that there should be greater civilian control over the intelligence services, greater internal reform, greater transparency in their budgets, and an end to their communist-era ties with the KGB. Of the three crisesin Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakiasenior NATO officials were said to be most deeply concerned about the crisis in the Slovak intelligence services.
According to Janes Intelligence Review, NATO had sent a directive to all its civilian and military personnel to limit personal and professional contacts with the Slovaks. This meant that the alliance had isolated the government in Bratislava until further notice, the publication said, citing sources from NATO headquarters. According to the same sources, NATO Secretary-General George Robertson recommended that NATO, which had not yet ratified the protocols on Slovakias accession, freeze the procedure until further notice [NATOs press office later denied the reportWPR]. This is a huge challenge to the expansion of NATO, which is related to Slovakias bid to join the European Union, Janes added.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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November 24 2003, 12:10 PM
Bulgaria Offered 2 Posts in NATO after Entry.
Novinite.com
Politics: 23 November 2003, Sunday
Bulgaria has been offered to take on the posts of brigade admiral and brigade general in the structures of the Alliance after its accession to NATO.
General Nikola Kolev,Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army, specified that the member states defense ministries are still to announce their positions on the issue. According to information of local Darik Radio Bulgaria has the support of 17 out of all 19 NATO members.
All member states want to have more posts in the Alliance structures and that is the reason why negotiations are being held, General Kolev told the Bulgarian News Agency.
He expressed the hope that the proposal will be confirmed at NATO summit in Brussels at the beginning of December.
General Kolev refused to disclose the names of potential candidates for the posts, saying it was too early.
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November 24 2003, 12:39 PM
Czechs to head multi-national NBC battalion.
Radio Prague
[21-11-2003] By Daniela Lazarova
Amidst growing fear of terrorist attacks and weapons of mass destruction, NATO is setting up a 500 strong multinational battalion specialized in nuclear, biological and chemical detection. The Czech Republic, a respected international authority in this field, has been given a lead role in setting up the unit, ensuring its action capability and being in command in the first year of its existence.
This new multinational battalion is being set up in reaction to the new security situation in the world and the heightened danger of the use of weapons of mass destruction. It is to serve not only in times of war but also for eliminating weapons of mass destruction in peacetime and in cases of dangerous accidents, such as factory leaks endangering the population, anywhere in the world. The Czech Republic, whose anti chemical unit played a key role in protecting allied forces in the Gulf War, is to mastermind the setting up and training of this multi-national unit and will remain in command through the first 12 months of its existence. Ten NATO member states have offered trained soldiers and technology for the international NBC battalion and their officials have been holding a planning session in the Czech mountain resort of Spindleruv Mlyn. Miroslav Sindelar of the Defense Ministry's press department reports:
"At present ten NATO members are involved in setting up NATO's new NBC battalion, most prominently involved are : Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United States, but there is also Portugal, Turkey, Belgium, Hungary and Romania. Officially the battalion will be in existence as of December 1st of this year, but the first few months will involve a training period. Army officers from the countries involved will receive training at the Liberec army base, the home base of the Czech NBC unit. Then in the spring of next year there will be further compatibility training in Italy. As of July 1st of 2004 NATO's NBC battalion should be fully action-capable."
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November 27 2003, 11:31 AM
NATO Spokesman: Bulgaria Will Join the Alliance Soon.
Novinite.com
Top news: 27 November 2003, Thursday
Bulgaria has done a lot of work and will soon join NATO, spokesman of the Alliance Robert Pszczel told private Bulgarian bTV channel on Thursday morning.
Taking up a question on whether Bulgaria matched NATO criteria for protection of confidential information, Pszczel said that the country was expected to show full cooperation in this field.
The country hopes to become a member of the Alliance next year. However, there were speculations that this deadline could be put off due to the spying scandal in which Bulgaria and Germany got involved last month. It broke after German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that a 64-year-old German intelligence agent had been passing secret documents to a female Bulgarian spy for four years.
Nevertheless, there were no serious indications that ties between the two countries might have worsened after that disclosure.
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November 27 2003, 11:44 AM
PM CRVENKOVSKI MET CHENEY, POWELL AND RUMSFELD.
MIA
Macedonian PM Branko Crvenkovski met with the US Vice-President Dick Cheney, State Secretary Colin Powell and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Washington.
The US will give support to aspirations of the Republic of Macedonia for joining the Euro-Atlantic structures, Macedonian PM Branko Crvenkovski stated after the meeting with US Vice-President Dick Cheney at the White House.
Crvenkovski stressed that the Washington's support to the Macedonia's aspirations gives new quality of the process of integration of the country into NATO.
Prior to this meeting, PM Crvenkovski met with the US State Secretary Colin Powell and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
It is crucial for Macedonia to continue with implementing of the Action Plan for army reform, which is very significant for bringing the country closer to NATO, US State Secretary Colin Powell said Tuesday at a meeting with Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski.
He also extended gratitude for Macedonia's participation in the global antiterrorist coalition.
Although not part of the agenda, Crvenkovski also had a meeting with US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, also attended by Rumsfeld's Deputy Paul Wolfowitz.
"Macedonia serves as an example as everything it has done for the last year may be considered as impressive progress," Rumsfeld said, adding that countries such as Macedonia, which solve problems in a peaceful manner, deserve the US support for the EU and NATO membership.
Crvenkovski reiterated Macedonia's expectations from the NATO Summit in Istanbul - clear message that the country would join the alliance in the next round of NATO enlargement.
Macedonian delegation is to meet with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the representatives of the Macedonian and Albanian communities in New York on Wednesday.
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December 1 2003, 11:35 AM
News Agency: Bulgaria to Soon Host US Military Bases.
Novinite.com
Politics: 27 November 2003, Thursday
The US administration will very soon launch negotiations for future transfer of military forces with its key allies, RIA Novosti news agency reported, cited by Bulgarian media.
Some of the US troops will be deployed in Bulgaria- Sarafovo airport in the coastal city of Burgas is most likely to host a US base, according to the news agency.
It also claims that Romania will host a Black Sea base and another one near Konstanca. In Poland the US military base will be located at the Poznan airbase.
US troops in Japan and South Korea are to be transferred to Iraq, Afghanistan and other Asian countries.
The transfer is provoked by the new geography and the security threats, reads a statement of the White House, cited by RIA Novosti.
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December 4 2003, 11:34 AM
Bulgaria "to Enter NATO before Istanbul Summit"
Novinite.com
Politics: 3 December 2003, Wednesday
Bulgaria might enter NATO before the Istanbul summit, the country's Defence Minister Nikolay Svinarov said upon his departure from Brussels. Svinarov took part in a meeting of the defence ministers of the countries members of the Alliance.
He said that part of his counterparts backed the idea that the seven aspirants should join NATO right after the ratification of the protocols, while the other part of the defence ministers sustained from expressing any opinion.
Svinarov explained that there was no obstacle for the seven aspirants to join the Alliance earlier. He also added that this would be no precedent as some of the other NATO members such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary have also ended the ratification procedures earlier and faced the opportunity to enter the Alliance earlier than planned.
The work of the Bulgarian peacekeeping contingents was highly evaluated in Brussels, Svinarov also said.
The Netherlands' Foreign Minister and future NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said after meeting with Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Solomon Passy that NATO will consider the option of Bulgaria becoming full NATO member prior to the Alliance summit in Istanbul in June 2004.
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December 4 2003, 11:35 AM
Bulgaria's Intelligence Service Meets NATO's Requirements.
Novinite.com
Politics: 3 December 2003, Wednesday
Bulgaria's intelligence service meets NATO's main requirements, Chief of Bulgaria's National Intelligence Service Colonel Kircho Kirov said on Wednesday.
Kirov also added that there were no accusations that Bulgaria could not protect secret data, however, he explained that some recommendations have been made as concerning the unification of Bulgaria's standards in that area with the ones of the Alliance.
The chief of Bulgaria's National Intelligence Service also said that in his opinion the number of people that will have access to secret data will be increased in the near future.
Earlier in the day Bulgaria's Defense Minister Nikolay Svinarov said that Bulgaria might enter NATO before the Istanbul summit. Svinarov participated in a meeting of the defence ministers of the countries members of the Alliance. He explained that there was no obstacle for the seven aspirants to join the Alliance earlier than planned.
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December 4 2003, 11:35 AM
Bulgarian Intelligence Chief without Access to NATO Info.
Novinite.com
Politics: 4 December 2003, Thursday
The chief of the Bulgarian Intelligence Service has no access to NATO classified information, it emerged on Tuesday after the Chief of Bulgaria's National Intelligence Service Colonel Kircho Kirov told journalists that the required granting-access procedure is currently underway.
Colonel Kirov urged that a limited number of Bulgarian Intelligence Service officials be granted access to NATO information, assuring at the same time that this number will grow in the near future.
According to data presented by Tsveta Markova, chief of the Information Protection Commission, 100 Bulgarians have been certified for work with NATO classified information, while some 10 000 have access to Bulgaria's classified information.
She declined to forecast when Bulgarian Intelligence Service officials will be certified for access to NATO information.
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December 4 2003, 1:45 PM
Bulgaria to send soldiers to participate in NATO's operation.
Xinhua
Bulgaria will send 5,000 soldiers to participate in NATO's operations for collective defense after the country becomes a formal member of the military alliance next year, a Bulgarian newspaper reported on Monday.
During an interview with the Labor newspaper, Chief of General Staff of the Bulgarian Army Nikola Kolev said on Sunday a total of5,000 soldiers, consisting of one motorized brigade and eight units, will be sent to participate in NATO's operations for collective defense.
The troops will perform the defense mission within a radius of 5,000 km beyond Bulgarian borders, the officer said.
As a preparation for its formal admission to NATO next year, Bulgaria has allocated over 100 million lev (66.9 million US dollars) for upgrading weapons and other military equipment.
Meanwhile, 49 million more lev (30 million dollars) will be used as direct expenditures for joining NATO, Kolev added.
Bulgaria, together with Romania, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Slovakia, will become a formal member of NATO in 2004.
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December 9 2003, 8:33 AM
Foreign Military Bases Dispatch in Bulgaria to "Increase Terror Risk"
Novinite.com
Politics: 9 December 2003, Tuesday
The dispatching of ally military bases in Bulgaria will lead to greater security as well as to more effective preparation of the country's army in cooperation with the other military forces, Todor Tagarev from the Center for research of the national security and defense with the Bulgarian Academy of Science said.
He, however, pointed out that it will also increase the risk of terrorism in Bulgaria, as the dispatching of US military bases might trigger the interest of foreign organizations opposing the US policy.
Earlier in the month it was reported that the US administration will very soon launch negotiations for future transfer of military forces with its key allies, including Bulgaria. That information was later confirmed by Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, who said that starting from December the Balkan country and US will launch series of talks dedicated to the eventual deployment of US troops in Bulgaria.
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December 15 2003, 12:08 PM
A daily in-depth look at current events in the Czech Republic.
Challenges lie ahead as Czechs assume leadership of multi-national battalion
Radio Prague
[12-12-2003] By Jan Velinger
The beginning of December saw the formal launching of NATO's new multi-national Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Defence Battalion in the town of Liberec. It is undeniably a moment of primary importance for the Czech Republic, assigned to lead the 500 member battalion which includes members from twelve other NATO countries including Canada, Great Britain, Turkey, Spain, and Italy. The core of the Czech team ranks some 160 NBC specialists, who have built a strong reputation in the field, in peace and wartime, in their ability to defend and respond to chemical accidents as well as the threat of weapons of mass destruction.
While Defence Minister Miroslav Kostelka, army and NATO representatives kicked off the launch, Radio Prague spoke with General Dusan Lupuljev, the head of the Czech anti-chemical unit stationed in Kuwait, to discuss some of the challenges that lie ahead:
"This battalion came into existence to meet the very real threat of weapons of mass destruction. This threat was indicated in the past, and at present there is a continuing threat of use - or relatively cheap manufacture of - WMD by terrorist organisations. That is the new NBC battalion's reason for existing. To assure NATO will not be caught off guard, and able to react, if weapons of mass destructions are ever used."
General Lupuljev also noted why the Czech Republic - in particular - had been chosen to head the prestigious force.
"When the need for a new battalion was being weighed several countries were considered to lead in the first year. Of NATO members only a few have the capability of heading such a force: the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, and the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic though, was in a way rewarded: first, thanks to its readiness over the last thirteen years, in particular in both Gulf wars, and second, for its investments in new technology. This made the Czech Republic a reasonable choice."
Furthermore, the Czech Republic was still thinking of ways to innovate and improve.
"Even though our unit in Kuwait was not used against WMD they did serve similar roles as well as such tasks as the disinfection of hospitals, roads, and other spaces, as well as securing drinking water. Our experience in Kuwait taught us how to make improvements in technology but also organisation. We were the first state to come forward with a concept that has been incorporated in the new battalion, that units created shall be multi-purpose. In Kuwait it became apparent that smaller, multi-task units were preferable. Our contribution to the new battalion is a multi-purpose unit capable of the following: detection, decontamination, analysis, disinfection. We think that will be the trend in the future: units will not be required to respond to thousands of kilometres exposed to radiation requiring large units, but smaller danger zones requiring multi-task capability."
Under the Czech Republic's first 12 months of leadership exercises and much training will take place, both in the Czech Republic and co-operating states. The Czechs are confident they will be able to both pass on their branch of expertise, and successfully preside over the readiness and preparation of Final Operational Capability of the new multi-national force by July 2004.
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February 4 2004, 2:53 PM
FT: Bulgaria to Host Only Small Temporary US Bases.
Novinite.com
Politics: 4 February 2004, Wednesday
Only small bases will be established on a temporary basis in Poland, Romania or Bulgaria as the US is preparing to cut the number of troops stationed in Europe by up to a third, Financial Times announced, citing diplomats.
This will be one of the biggest reductions since American soldiers were first based there after the second world war.
According to the article Washington will not establish new permanent bases in Eastern Europe in a move that is seen as one of the biggest reductions since American soldiers were first based there after the second world war.
Romania and Bulgaria will be disappointed by the news, although east European diplomats played down their concerns, Financial Times cited a diplomat as saying.
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February 12 2004, 1:03 PM
Spain "to Spy on Bulgaria"
Novinite.com
Politics: 12 February 2004, Thursday
The Spanish intelligence is looking for spies speaking Bulgarian language, Spanish Diario de Leon newspaper reported. An advertisement with all the requirements was placed in the Internet.
The candidates for the job should be Spanish citizens with university diploma and knowledge of at least one the following languages: Russia, Chinese, Arabian, Serbian, Bulgaria or Ukrainian.
The newspaper comments that the languages show all the destinations Spain is strategically interested in. These regions include the Arabian countries, Russia and the former soviet republics as well as the Balkans and China, Diario de Leon underlines.
The spy applicants should also have excellent knowledge in geography and computer science because of the character of the job.
The future spies will work either under cover or not.
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March 18 2004, 1:30 PM
Bulgaria's Parliament Gave Thumbs Up to NATO Entry.
Novinite.com
Politics: 18 March 2004, Thursday
Bulgaria's Parliament ratified the North Atlantic Treaty with 226 MPs voting for it and 4 others opposing it.
Bulgaria's NATO membership means stability in such times, Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg said at the official ceremony for the ratification. He also underlined that the major step ahead was due to the efforts of many people.
Right after the ratification President Georgi Parvanov signed a decree for its promulgation.
Bulgaria was invited to accession talks with NATO at the summit in Prague in 2002. Membership invitations were also extended to Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The country's willingness to join NATO was officially confirmed March 17, 2003 and just a few days later, on March 26, 2003 a report for Bulgaria's joining was signed in Brussels.
Bulgaria and six other NATO invitees would join the Alliance at the official ceremony held April 2.
The North Atlantic treaty reads that its parties reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and their desire to live in peace with all peoples and all governments.
They are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.
Bulgarias President G. Parvanov (L), PM S. Saxe-Coburg (M) and Parliamentary Speaker O.Gerdzhikov (R) celebrate the ratification of North Atlantic Treaty. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (novinite.com)
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March 23 2004, 11:28 AM
Bulgaria Plans NATO Entry Celebrations.
Novinite.com
Politics: 23 March 2004, Tuesday
The Interdepartmental Council on Integration into NATO meets today to discuss the national programme for the celebrations of Bulgaria's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance.
The session is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Plamen Panayotov.
The official celebrations will stretch from April 2 till June 28 when NATO summit will be held in Istanbul.
Foreign Minister Solomon Passy and Defense Minister Nikolay Svinarov will attend the ceremony for hoisting the Bulgarian national flag at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
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March 25 2004, 3:09 PM
BULGARIA - STRATEGIC SITES - SECURITY.
Defence Minister Hopes Details of Bulgarian-Romanian Agreement for Joint Air Defence of Strategic Sites Will Be Ready by End-April.
Sofia, March 23 (BTA) - Bulgaria will be able to fire at aircraft trespassing or threatening to trespass the Kozloduy N-plant security zone, even if the trespasser is in Romanian air space. This will be possible, and Bulgaria will have enough time to protect its N-plant, if a relevant mechanism is set in place, if a bilateral agreement is in effect and there is a government decision at the requisite level, Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov said Tuesday.
He was speaking to reporters after a two-day visit to Romania where the two sides reached an agreement on joint air defence of strategic sites and facilities of major economic importance situated on their common border.
The technical details entailed in implementing the agreement are yet to be worked out and Svinarov hopes the experts will be ready by the end of April so that the agreement can be finalized.
Bulgaria, Romania Aware of Their Important Role in Building European Security.
Bucharest, March 23 (BTA Special Correspondent Stoyan Vitanov) - Building stability in the Balkans and enhancing security in the Black Sea region were singled out as very important goals for Bulgaria and Romania during official talks here on Tuesday.
Bulgaria was represented at the talks by its Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov, and Romania by the Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies' Committee for Defence, Public Order and National Security, Razvan Ionescu.
"As regards European security and defence, the EU definitely needs Bulgaria and Romania," said Svinarov, who started his visit to Romania on Monday.
"Our two countries' capacities and the attainment of their shared objective of joining NATO provide a solid stepping stone for their prompt accession to the EU," Svinarov said. He noted that the EU lacks special financial facilities for defence and security, which is likely to make the building of European defence forces a rather slow process. Security is essential for a better economic investment environment and for higher living standards, he said.
Ionescu said the two countries' participation in the Black Sea Naval Cooperation Task Group (BLACKSEAFOR) could serve as a starting point for expanding their cooperation. Romania's partnership with Bulgaria is particularly important in the current moment, when they are acceding to NATO, Ionescu said.
The two delegations agreed on the need for more strenuous efforts to combat international terrorism, specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ionescu invited a delegation of the Bulgarian National Assembly Committee on Foreign Policy, Defence and Security to visit Romania.
The Balkans and Europe should be considered as a whole, it was noted at the meeting between the Bulgarian Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov and Romanian State Minister in charge with coordinating the activity within the defense, European integration and justice fields Ioan Talpes.
Minister Svinarov declared the consensus reached in Bulgaria on the basic issues of society's agenda is necessary to guarantee the security of the country. This is valid for any state, Svinarov pointed out.
Romanian Minister of National Defence Ioan Mircea Pascu also took part in the meting. The Romanian party noted that the greatest success of politics was the fact that one could no longer imagine that one's neighbours could be one's enemies.
Both sides noted that what had been achieved in relations, allowing direct solution of problems between them, was a particular success. The desire for enhancing cooperation to guarantee security in the Black Sea region was also expressed.
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March 25 2004, 3:18 PM
Bulgarians Stunned NATO.
Novinite.com
Politics: 25 March 2004, Thursday
Officials in Brussels were astounded at the Bulgarian idea to celebrate its official entry with releasing special series of NATO-labeled wine and beer.
This is a precedent, NATO officials commented, as there are strict legal rules about using any symbol of the Alliance. This is indirect advertising with commercial purposes, legal experts from Brussels said.
The Alliance applies minute selection as far as objects labeled with the NATO symbol are concerned. It is mostly allowed for imprinting on pens, badges, and computer pads. For instance, there is a ban to use it on firelighters, as many member countries are engaged with anti-smoking policy.
According to international and Bulgarian competition rules, no private person, or legal entity can patent the name or the symbol of an international organization.
Local breweries and wine-makers are confused at the news about the specially labeled series. The Czech Republic has celebrated its NATO entry with "NATO wine", Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Lyubomir Todorov explained. He added that the projected wine and beer series might be labeled with the Bulgarian logo made for the April 2 celebrations.
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March 25 2004, 4:16 PM
Enlargement a NATO response to terrorism, Shea says.
The Slovak Spectator
NATOs response to the attacks by global terrorists will be the further enlargement of the alliance, a senior official of the military bloc said at a meeting of think-tanks, academic circles, and civil society in Bratislava, the news wire TASR wrote.
NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General Jamie Shea spoke at the panel discussion held on the eve of the conference of leaders of eastern European states joining the alliance early next month.
"The more countries we have in the bloc the more effective will be in the fight against international terrorism," he told reporters afterwards.
Recent attacks, including Madrid a week ago, have shown that terrorists are well prepared at a global level.
"If you wonder whether there will be more attacks - no doubt there will be and terrorists will not discriminate between non-aligned and NATO member countries," Shea declared.
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March 26 2004, 12:35 PM
NATO - BULGARIA - POLL.
Supporters of Bulgaria's NATO Membership Become More - Poll.
Sofia, March 23 (BTA) - The number of Bulgarians who are in favour of Bulgaria's accession to NATO, has increased by 10 per cent from January to a total of 69 per cent in mid-March, according to a survey by the National Public Opinion Centre (NPOC) made public Tuesday.
The poll was done between March 8 and 17 among 1,000 respondents.
Disapproval for NATO accession has dropped by 9 per cent.
Days ahead of the actual accession to the Alliance, public support for the membership is picking up, NPOC director Lidia Yordanova commented.
For comparison, 80 per cent of Bulgarians are supportive of membership in the European Union.
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March 30 2004, 12:34 PM
Bush Welcoming Seven New NATO Members.
AP Wire | March 28 2004 | SONYA ROSS/AP
WASHINGTON -- Russia may be quietly concerned about NATO's expanding girth, but the United States is not as President Bush welcomes seven former Soviet-dominated nations joining the 55-year-old alliance.
Bush presides Monday at a White House ceremony to greet the prime ministers of the new member nations along with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
With the addition of Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, NATO's membership grows from 19 countries to 26. The new members will take part in their first meeting Friday in Brussels. Three other nations -- Albania, Croatia and Macedonia -- hope to join.
NATO has agreed to include the Baltic states under its air defense shield, planning to enforce it by stationing four F-16 fighter planes in Lithuania.
De Hoop Scheffer told reporters at a breakfast interview Monday that fighter planes would begin "air policing" over the Baltic states at the moment their NATO membership takes effect Monday, and that he explained the policy to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov two weeks ago.
"I think that the Russian Federation has very well understood that NATO has, of course, no ulterior motives by air-policing its airspace," de Hoop Scheffer said, adding that NATO has a solid relationship with Russia. "I think that NATO and Russia will further build on this partnership."
Some new members, such as Romania and Bulgaria, have military bases and training ranges that the United States would like to use, or have access to, in times of crisis. Their presence could mean a decided shift in NATO's decision-making processes, particularly within the governing councils, said Marine Gen. James Jones, the supreme allied commander in Europe.
"It will be a different organization," Jones told reporters Friday. "The eastern European influence will change the voting demographics; they'll bring different views."
Russia has cast a wary eye toward the expansion of NATO, which was established during the Cold War to shield the United States, Canada and 10 European countries from various threats, including the Soviet Union's military might.
U.S. officials have minimized worries that NATO expansion could cause tensions with Russia, but President Vladimir Putin's government has warned that Moscow intends to take steps to defend itself should it perceive NATO's eastward push as a threat.
Russia is not a member of NATO but has accepted an invitation to participate in talks at NATO's headquarters in Brussels on Friday.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, who plans to attend that meeting, said in a speech last week that Russia should not view this bigger NATO as a threat, but as a partner against the ill-defined threats that jeopardize global security.
"Whatever NATO members today may lack by way of identical definitions of threats, we do more than make up for that through a mature recognition that we share the same vision of a good society and of a better world," Powell said. "We shouldn't let the inevitable stress of dealing with change mislead us or deter us. Our partnerships are growing stronger as they adapt to new realities."
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March 30 2004, 1:22 PM
NATO Flag Flutters in Sofia.
Novinite.com
Politics: 30 March 2004, Tuesday
The flags of NATO, Bulgaria and the three armed services were hoisted at an official ceremony in front of the Joint Strategic Headquarters building in Sofia Tuesday morning.
Bulgaria's Chief of the Army Staff General Nikola Kolev as well as other top officials attended the ceremony. Bulgaria's national hymn as well as NATO's anthem were played.
Just a day earlier Bulgaria together with six more former Soviet-dominated nations, became full-fledged NATO member in the most ambitious expansion in the Alliance history.
The accession of the seven new countries brings the 55-year-old alliance membership to 26.
An official welcoming ceremony will be held on April 2 in Brussels for the new NATO members. Bulgaria's flag as well as those of the other six countries will be raised.
The NATO flag was hoisted in Sofia a day after Bulgaria was welcomed as full member. Photo by Gergana Kostadinova (novinite.com)
President Bush Welcomes Seven Nations to the NATO Alliance
Remarks by the President on the Enlargement of NATO
The South Lawn
3:42 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Good afternoon, and welcome to the White House.
Fifty-five years ago, the representatives of 12 nations gathered here in Washington to sign the North Atlantic Treaty, which established the most successful military alliance in history. Today, we proudly welcome Bulgaria -- (applause) -- Estonia -- (applause) -- Latvia -- (applause) -- Lithuania -- (applause) -- Romania -- (applause) -- Slovakia -- (applause) --and Slovenia. (Applause.) We welcome them into the ranks of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. (Applause.)
When NATO was founded, the people of these seven nations were captives to an empire. They endured bitter tyranny, they struggled for independence, they earned their freedom through courage and perseverance. And today they stand with us as full and equal partners in this great alliance. (Applause.)
It has been my honor to host the Prime Ministers of each new NATO member in the Oval Office. I want to thank them for their friendship, I want to thank them for their leadership. I look forward to working with them to make the world more peaceful and more free. Welcome to America. (Applause.)
I want to thank the foreign and defense ministers of the new NATO members who are with us today. I want to thank the Prime Ministers of Albania, Croatia and Macedonia, who are with us today. (Applause.) Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is with us today, who is the Secretary General of NATO. Thank you for coming, Mr. Secretary General. I thank the Ambassadors of all the members of NATO, both old and new.
I want to thank the Vice President, Secretary of State Powell, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, General Dick Myers, General Jones, members of my administration. I want to thank the members of Congress who are with us today; Majority Leader Bill Frist of the United States Senate; members of the Senate which voted unanimously in support of the admission of the new members that we welcome today. (Applause.) I want to thank the members of the House of Representatives who have joined us today. I want to thank those who are here today whose vision years ago helped make this moment a reality. I want to thank other distinguished guests. Welcome.
Today marks a great achievement for each of the nations joining our alliance. All member nations of NATO must be free and democratic and fully committed to defending the principles of liberty. All member nations must be willing, and able, to contribute to the common defense of our alliance. Our seven new members have built free institutions, they've increased their military capabilities in the span of a decade. They are stronger nations because of that remarkable effort -- and the NATO alliance is made stronger by their presence. (Applause.)
Since NATO's founding, the assurance of mutual defense has been a safeguard for peace. As President Truman said, "By this treaty, we are not only seeking to establish freedom from aggression and from the use of force in the North Atlantic community, but we are also actively striving to promote and preserve peace throughout the world."
Under NATO's banner, the nations of Europe put aside rivalries that had divided the continent for centuries. NATO members stood watch on freedom's borders for two generations of the Cold War. Because of NATO's vigilance, free people lifted the Iron Curtain, and tore down the Berlin Wall and replaced dictators with democratic governments.
In the aftermath of this victory, some questioned whether NATO could -- or should -- survive the end of the Cold War. Then the alliance proved its enduring worth by stopping ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, and by ousting the armies of a tyrant in Kosovo. Some wondered whether NATO could adapt to the new threats of the 21st century. Those doubts were laid to rest on September the 12th, 2001, when NATO invoked -- for the first time in its history -- Article Five of our charter, which states that an attack against one NATO ally is an attack against all. (Applause.)
NATO's core mission remains the same: the defense of its members against any aggression. Today, our alliance faces a new enemy, which has brought death to innocent people from New York to Madrid. Terrorists hate everything this alliance stands for. They despise our freedom, they fear our unity, they seek to divide us. They will fail. We will not be divided. (Applause.) We will never bow to the violence of a few. We will never -- we will face the mortal danger of terrorism, and we will overcome it together. (Applause.)
The countries we welcome today were friends before they were allies, and they were allies in action before becoming allies by treaty. Today, all seven of these nations are helping to bring lasting freedom to Afghanistan and Iraq. Bulgaria provided refueling facilities during the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom, and has deployed more than 400 soldiers to Iraq. (Applause.) Military engineers from Estonia and Latvia are helping to clear explosive devices from Iraq. (Applause.) Forces from Lithuania and Slovakia are helping to secure Iraq. (Applause.) Romanian troops have sacrificed their lives fighting terrorists in Afghanistan. (Applause.) And troops from Slovenia are serving in the international force that is protecting the city of Kabul in Afghanistan. (Applause.)
Forces from Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia are also contributing in Afghanistan or Iraq -- proving their mettle as they aspire to NATO membership. (Applause.) These three nations, joined together under the Adriatic Charter, are building strong democracies at home that can contribute to NATO efforts abroad. The United States supports these efforts. The door to NATO will remain open until the whole of Europe is united in freedom and in peace. (Applause.)
As witness to some of the great crimes of the last century, our new members bring moral clarity to the purposes of the Alliance. They understand our cause in Afghanistan and in Iraq, because tyranny for them is still a fresh memory. These nations know that when great democracies fail to confront danger, far worse peril can follow. They know that aggression, left unchecked, can rob millions of their liberty and their lives. And so now, as members of NATO, they are stepping forward to secure the lives and freedom of others. (Applause.)
The NATO alliance now flies seven new flags, and reaches from the Bay of Biscay to the Black Sea. And Europe -- once the source of global conflict -- is now a force for stability and peace.
Our great transatlantic alliance has met and overcome great dangers in the past, and our work in NATO is not done. In the past, many assumed that NATO represented a pledge that America would come to the aid of Europe. Today, by our words and by our actions, we know that NATO means much more -- it is a solemn commitment that America and Europe are joined together to advance the cause of freedom and peace. (Applause.)
NATO is acting to meet the challenges of our time. NATO forces are securing Afghanistan, NATO ships are patrolling the Mediterranean, and NATO is supporting the Polish-led division in Iraq. NATO is widening the circle of its friends, by creating a new chapter in our relationship with Russia. NATO members are reaching out to the nations of the Middle East, to strengthen our ability to fight terror, and to provide for our common security. And we're discussing how we can support and increase the momentum of freedom in the greater Middle East.
Our unity and our commitment to freedom carried us to victory in the Cold War, and they showed us the way to victory in the war on terror. Together, Europe and America can lead peaceful nations against the dangers of our time. Europe and America can advance freedom, and give hope and support to those who seek to lift the yoke of isolation and fear and oppression. That is the mission that history has set for NATO -- this great and confident alliance of 26 nations -- and we proudly accept this mission.
May God bless you all. (Applause.)
END 3:54 P.M. EST
President George W. Bush addresses a crowd gathered on the South Lawn to celebrate the induction of seven countries into NATO Monday, March 29, 2004. The countries acceding to the alliance are Latvia, Slovenia, Lithuania, the Slovak Republic, Romania, Bulgaria and Estonia.
By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 30, 2004; Page A01
President Bush welcomed seven former Communist countries into NATO yesterday, pressing the alliance's boundaries farther into what once was Warsaw Pact territory and emphasizing its post-Cold War rebirth as a partnership aimed increasingly at fighting terrorism in Europe and beyond.
The expansion -- the second time the alliance has added members since the Soviet Union fell -- comes as a changing NATO prepares to send more forces into Afghanistan, considers a future role in Iraq, and works with nations in North Africa and elsewhere to thwart terrorist organizations.
"Terrorists hate everything this alliance stands for," Bush said in a White House ceremony with representatives of the seven nations. "They despise our freedom. They fear our unity. They seek to divide us. They will fail. We will not be divided. We will never bow to the violence of a few."
The relatively young democracies that joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization yesterday included three former Soviet republics -- the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- and three members of the former Warsaw Pact: Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. The seventh, Slovenia, was part of the former Yugoslavia. The invitation to join the alliance was extended at the NATO summit in Prague in November 2002 and was approved unanimously by the U.S. Senate last May.
The expansion of NATO from 19 to 26 countries tips the balance of the Atlantic alliance further eastward -- and tends to make the group as a whole more sympathetic to U.S. foreign policy. The seven, for example, backed Bush's move toward war in Iraq early last year, even as original NATO members France and Germany opposed him.
Bush pointedly noted in his remarks that all seven nations are playing supporting roles for U.S.-led military operations in Iraq or Afghanistan. Bulgaria, he said, provided refueling facilities for aircraft during the 2001 Afghan campaign and also has sent more than 400 soldiers to Iraq. Military engineers from Estonia and Latvia are helping clear explosives in Iraq, and forces from Lithuania and Slovakia also have served there, he said. Romanian and Slovenian troops have deployed to Afghanistan, he added.
"They understand our cause in Afghanistan and in Iraq because tyranny for them is still a fresh memory," said Bush, whose statements included a dose of Reagan-era anti-Soviet rhetoric. "When NATO was founded, the people of these seven nations were captives to an empire."
The alliance's growing roster has been eyed warily by Russia, which also expressed alarm at NATO's first expansion in 1999, when the alliance welcomed the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a group of reporters Monday that fighter planes would begin "air policing" over the Baltic states at the moment their NATO membership took effect -- and that he explained the policy to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov two weeks ago.
"I think that the Russian Federation has very well understood that NATO has, of course, no ulterior motives by air-policing its airspace," de Hoop Scheffer said, according to the Associated Press, adding that NATO has a solid relationship with Russia. "I think that NATO and Russia will further build on this partnership."
Russian officials have said they will respond if NATO's eastward expansion begins to look threatening. "If NATO believes that there is any need for such protection in the Baltic region, Russia reserves the right to draw its own conclusions from it and, if necessary, to act accordingly," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass, the AP said.
James Steinberg, a former deputy national security adviser, called yesterday's milestone "really quite a remarkable moment, because it is the completion of a project that dates back to the 1940s, when the Iron Curtain came down," cutting off Eastern Europe from the West.
Former Pentagon policy official James Bodner said the day was especially significant because it was part of a U.S. effort to provide incentives to eastern and southeastern European states to act democratically. Having the states adjoining the Balkans become peaceable and stable was by no means guaranteed when NATO began to contemplate expanding, he said. "A decade ago in Southeast Europe we almost had things unravel," he said.
Bush hinted at a third round of expansion of the 55-year-old security organization, noting that the prime ministers of three NATO aspirants -- Albania, Croatia and Macedonia -- also were in attendance yesterday. All three "are also contributing in Afghanistan or Iraq, proving their mettle as they aspire to NATO membership," Bush said. "The door to NATO will remain open until the whole of Europe is united in freedom and in peace," he added.
NATO might play a greater role in Iraq if authorized to do so by the United Nations Security Council, Scheffer told reporters yesterday before the ceremony. Currently the alliance provides some logistical and communications support to the Polish-led multinational division in southern Iraq, but otherwise it has steered clear of involvement.
"I think that the NATO allies would enter that discussion with a positive attitude, which could mean that NATO, as far as command is concerned, could participate or could take over a certain part of the stabilization force."
Bulgarians consider NATO accession as a guarantee for the national security, surveys show.
Experts point out that the concept of security is perceived both as protection from terror acts, national borders and sovereignty defense. Bulgarians also expect NATO membership to give a boost of Bulgaria's economy.
The idea for joining the 55-year-old alliance enjoys the support of nearly 70% of the Bulgarians on the eve of Bulgaria's full-fledged NATO membership, latest data of the National Center for Public Opinions Studies show.
There are fears that Bulgaria's NATO entry will involve the country in military conflicts abroad.
Some 58% of the respondents fear that Bulgaria will become a priority terror target if it hosts foreign military bases, MBMD polling agency says. Another 60% have misgivings that the military bases will cause pollution.
MACEDONIA IS FULLY COMMITTED TO BECOMING PART OF THE EURO-ATLANTIC FAMILY, CRVENKOVSKI SAYS.
MIA
Macedonia is fully committed to becoming part of the Euro-Atlantic family and the tragic death of the President Boris Trajkovski only strengthened our resolution towards this goal, Macedonian PM Branko Crvenkovski stated speaking at the joint press conference after the accession ceremony of the new seven NATO member states in Washington.
Crvenkovski said that Macedonia is prepared to carry out the needed reforms and to fully cooperate with the NATO partners, VOA Radio - programme on Macedonian language reported.
"Macedonia had transformed from a user of foreign army presence into contributor to global peace and security over a very short period of time," Branko Crvenkovski said, emphasising that the country is part of the global coalition against terrorism with participation of the Macedonian soldiers in missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Macedonian PM thanked to the US for the support of the Adriatic Charter and expressed hopes that Macedonia, Albania and Croatia through a close co-operation would soon fulfil all preconditions for NATO membership.
"I assure you that Macedonia is a partner that you can rely on," Crvenkovski implied.
US Ambassador Pardew: Bulgaria's NATO Membership Entails Responsibilities and Advantages.
Sofia, March 28 (BTA) - Bulgaria's membership in NATO entails both responsibilities and advantages, US Ambassador here James Pardew told bTV on Sunday.
Bulgaria will have some very important benefits as NATO member - it will have guaranties for its security and will participate in the decision-making process in the Alliance, he added.
In exchange, this country will have to respect and work for other countries' security and will be responsible for its forces' capabilities to take part in NATO operations, the diplomat explained. Bulgaria should have highly-skilled armed forces so as to contribute to the Alliance, he added.
No decision has been taken so far regarding the deployment of US bases in Bulgaria, said Pardew. The Defence Ministry is considering different locations but has still not come up with a proposal, nor has the US government taken a decision yet, he said. The US Ambassador also said he believes that the presence of US forces would stabilize the region.
Bulgaria's NATO membership will not affect directly the economy but Bulgaria will be perceived as part of the European community, said Pardew, adding that stability is attractive to investors.
Bulgaria and Romania's accession to the Alliance will have a favourable effect on the region and the two countries will serve as an example to others, he concluded.
Rop: Slovenia is a Safer Country, NATO a Stronger Alliance.
Slovenia is a safer country today than it was a day ago, and NATO is a stronger alliance now, Prime Minister Anton Rop told reporters in Washington, DC after Slovenia officially joined NATO on Monday.
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Slovenia Will Keep NATO, EU Door Open for Western Balkans, Says FM.
Washington, 29 March (STA) - As a member of the European Union and NATO, Slovenia will keep the doors of the two organisations open for friendly countries of the Western Balkans, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said in his keynote address to a conference on Western Balkans, taking place Monday in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON - Slovenski premier Anton Rop se je v ponedeljek skupaj s premieri iz ostalih ?estih novih ?lanic zveze NATO v Washingtonu udele?il novinarske konference v Nacionalnem novinarskem klubu in slovesnosti v galeriji Corcoran, kjer je okoli 2000 gostom spregovoril ameri?ki obrambni minister Donald Rumsfeld. Slednji je pozdravil Estonijo, Latvijo, Litvo, Bolgarijo, Romunijo, Slova?ko in Slovenijo, ponedeljek pa ozna?il za dokon?ni konec hladne vojne. Rop je v kasnej?em pogovoru s slovenskimi novinarji, ki se ga je udele?il tudi zunanji minister Dimitrij Rupel, dejal, da je najbolj neposredna posledica vstopa v NATO, da je Slovenija postala varnej?a, kot je bila dan prej. Pred tem je Rop ameri?kemu dr?avnemu sekretarju Colinu Powellu predal listine o pristopu k severnoatlantskemu zavezni?tvu, s ?imer je Slovenija uradno postala ?lanica zveze NATO, udele?il pa se je tudi slovesnega sprejema pri ameri?kemu predsedniku Georgeu Bushu v Beli hi?i.
Na novinarski konferenci v Nacionalnem novinarskem klubu - sodelovalo je kar deset predsednikov vlad - poleg sedmerice ?e premieri Hrva?ke, Makedonije in Albanije, kandidatk, ki ?e ?akajo na povabilo v NATO - so najbolj navdu?eno nad zgodovinskim dogodkom delovali premieri Bolgarije, Romunije in Latvije. Litovski premier Algirdas Brazauskas je prvi omenil tudi podporo nadaljnji politiki odprtih vrat zveze NATO, kar je razveselilo kolege iz Skopja, Zagreba in Tirane.
Bolgarski premier Simeon Sakskoburggotski je Rusiji sporo?il, da ?iritev NATO ni usmerjena proti njej, dopisnik ruske agencije Itar-Tass pa je posebej vpra?al premiere treh baltskih dr?av in Slovenije, ali nameravajo pristopiti k pogodbi o omejevanju konvencionalnih sil v Evropi (CFE), ki ?e niti ni vstopila v veljavo. V imenu vseh sta govorila premiera Litve Brazauskas in Latvije Indulis Emsis. Njun odgovor na tovrstne zahteve Moskve je bil negativen, vsaj dokler Rusija sama ne izpolni obvez iz te pogodbe.
CFE, leta 1990 sklenjeni sporazum med zvezo NATO in dr?avami Var?avskega pakta, dolo?a zgornjo mejo konvencionalnih sil v Evropi. Leta 1999 so na vrhu OVSE v Carigradu podpisali dopolnjeno CFE in Slovenija je ?e takrat izrazila pripravljenost, da se pridru?i podpisnicam dokumenta. Ta je sicer odprt za pristop tudi evropskim dr?avam, ki niso bile ?lanice NATO oz. Var?avskega pakta, vendar ?ele potem, ko bo dopolnjena CFE ratificirana v vseh 30 dr?avah podpisnicah, to pa se ?e ni zgodilo.
Slovenski premier Rop je prav tako izrazil podporo Slovenije Albaniji, Hrva?ki in Makedoniji na poti v NATO in dejal, da so nove ?lanice zdaj varnej?e, NATO pa mo?nej?i. Poudaril je, da se Slovenija zaveda odgovornosti in je pripravljena biti zanesljiva partnerica drugih ?lanic zavezni?tva. Kasneje na pogovoru s slovenskimi novinarji pa je dodal, da je bil v ponedeljek zgodovinski dan, ki za Slovenijo pomeni zagotovljeno vi?jo stopnjo varnosti. Hkrati s predajo listin je NATO namre? za?el varovati slovenski zra?ni prostor in Slovenija je dobila tudi garancije za za??ito pred napadi in gro?njami. Rop je dejal, da je bil za Slovenijo velika pridobitev ?e sam proces vstopanja v NATO in EU, saj je izvajala preobrazbo in posodabljanje svojega gospodarskega, politi?nega in voja?kega sistema.
Slovenski zunanji minister Dimitrij Rupel je dejal, da je vstop v NATO tako pomemben korak kot plebiscit o neodvisnosti in vstop v EU, saj postaja Slovenija del velikega sistema oziroma organizacije najrazvitej?ih dr?av sveta, ki jo danes bolj kot varovanje ozemlja opredeljujejo vrednote. Na sre?anju z ameri?kimi sogovorniki, predvsem s predsednikom Bushem, so po Ropovih besedah govorili o utrjevanju partnerstva in bodo?em sodelovanju, brez odpiranja bole?ih tem. Bush je sam poudaril, da so zanj spori s Francijo in Nem?ijo glede Iraka preteklost, ZDA pa pri?akujejo, da se bo polo?aj v Iraku kmalu dovolj izbolj?al, da bo mogo?e bistveno ?ir?e sodelovanje evropskih zaveznic. Sedmerica novih ?lanic se razlikuje po marsi?em, vendar je ?estim ?lanicam skupno to, da sodelujejo s svojimi vojaki v operacija v Iraku. Na vpra?anje STA, ali je bilo na pogovorih z Ameri?ani izpostavljeno vpra?anje Slovenije, ki z vojsko ne sodeluje v Iraku, je Rop odgovoril nikalno.
Rop je spomnil, da je Bush v svojem govoru pred Belo hi?o posebej poudaril podro?ja, kjer je Slovenija prispevala v protiteroristi?ni koaliciji (Afganistan), ter da Slovenija ostaja na stali??u, ki ga ima ?e od lani, torej da voja?ko sodelovanje v Iraku pogojuje z ustreznim sodelovanjem ZN. "Pri tem stali??u ostajamo in te teme ni nih?e odpiral. Jasno pa je, da se Slovenija pri tem razlikuje od ostalih novih ?lanic," je dejal Rop. Tudi Rupel, ki se je v ponedeljek sre?al z namestnikom ameri?kega dr?avnega sekretarja Richardom Armitageom, je dejal, da na pogovoru ni bila izpostavljena nobena razlika med novimi ?lanicami. Nasprotno, dobil je pohvale za sodelovanje Slovenije na humanitarnem podro?ju skupaj z Avstrijo in pri urjenju ira?kih policistov ter udele?bo v enotah NATO v Afganistanu.
Sestanek z Armitageom je bil sicer namenjen slovenskemu predsedovanju OVSE leta 2005 in polo?aju na Balkanu, posebej Kosovu. Na vpra?anje, kako vidijo Ameri?ani slovensko vlogo pri urejanju razmer na Balkanu, je Rupel dejal, da jih zanimajo slovenski predlogi in predvsem odgovor na vpra?anje, kako prenesti uspe?en slovenski model na druge dr?ave nekdanje Jugoslavije. Rupel je dejal, da Slovenija ne ?aka navodil iz Washingtona, ampak ima sama mo?an interes za stabilizacijo sose??ine, zato pomaga. V tak?ni lu?i je potrebno gledati tudi na slovensko predsedovanje OVSE, kjer se bo potrebno poleg Balkanu posvetiti tudi drugim obmo?jem, kot sta Kavkaz in Srednja Azija. Slovenija je po Ruplovih besedah tudi nekak?na referen?na to?ka za odnose med Srbijo in Kosovom, saj ima dobre odnose z obema stranema in sku?a prispevati k umirjanju razmer.
Tudi Rop je dejal, da se Slovenija v zadnjem ?asu precej anga?ira na Kosovu in je tudi predstavila svoja stali??a na zadnjem vrhu EU v Bruslju. Stali??e Slovenije je, da razume, da je dosedanji odnos mednarodne skupnosti do Kosova - najprej urediti standarde in se ?ele nato pogovarjati o statusu - prinesel veliko napredka, vendar to ni dovolj, ampak je potrebno hkrati z uresni?evanjem standardov odpreti razpravo o kon?nem statusu pokrajine. Na vpra?anje, kak?en naj bo ta, Slovenija sedaj sicer nima odgovora, kot ga nimajo niti ZDA in drugi dejavniki.
Po Ruplovih besedah sku?a Slovenija vzpodbuditi k novemu na?inu razmi?ljanja in iskanju novih re?itev, ker se mednarodna skupnost ob izbruhih kriz ponavadi zate?e h konservativnemu razmi?ljanju na podlagi obstoje?ih politik. Bistvo slovenskega sodelovanja je vzpodbujanje k dialogu, prav tako pa je pomembno opozarjanje na pomanjkanje gospodarskega razvoja regije, posebej Kosova, kjer je ogromna stopnja brezposelnosti in kriminala. Standardi, kot so ?lovekove pravice, sociala in podobno, so zelo pomembni, vendar z razpravami o statusu ni mo? odla?ati v nedogled.
Tudi Rupel je dejal, da Slovenija nima odgovora na vpra?anje o kon?nem statusu Kosova, kakor tudi ne ZDA, kjer pa so se v State Departmentu menda vsaj za?eli pogovarjati o tem. Obstaja precej predlogov - od popolne neodvisnosti, prek kantonizacije in decentralizacije, vendar je za Evropejce pomembna ohanitev multietni?nosti Kosova. "Za Slovenijo je nepojmljivo govoriti o etni?no ?istih obmo?jih ali getoizacijah in odre?i se multietni?nosti je nekaj nepojmljivega za evropski na?in razmi?ljanja," je dejal Rupel.
Minister Rupel se je v Washingtonu udele?il tudi Mednarodne konference o Zahodnem Balkanu na Centru za strate?ke in Mednarodne ?tudije (CSIS), ki so jo skupaj pripravili CSIS, slovensko MZZ in ESI. Na tej konferenci je potekala razprava o re?itvah problemov regije, ki se mora po Ruplovih besedah nadaljevati. Rupel bo v torek ?e obiskal republikanskega kongresnika iz New Jerseyja Chrisa Smitha, govorila pa bosta o slovenskem predsedovanju OVSE leta 2005. Smith je sopredsedujo?i Helsin?ki komisiji.
Rop se bo v torek sre?al s senatorjema slovenskega rodu republikancem iz Ohia Georgeom Voinovichem, demokratom iz Iowe Tomom Harkinom ter kongresnikom demokratom Jamesom Oberstarjem iz Minnesote, prav tako slovenskega rodu. Vsi trije so vse od leta 1996 podpirali in zagovarjali ?lanstvo Slovenije v NATO. Pred odhodom iz Washingtona v Boston, kjer bo Rop v torek predaval o Sloveniji v procesu pridru?evanja evroatlantskim inegracijam, se je premier v ponedeljek zve?er sre?al ?e s predsednikom Kranjske slovenske katoli?ke jednote (KSKJ) Rudolphom Kra?ovcem in predsednikom Slovenske narodne podporne jednote (SNPJ), ki bo 3. aprila praznovala stoletnico, Josephom Evani?em.
Schuster: NATO Accession Should Bring Also Economic Benefits.
29.03.2004 11:09
Bratislava, March 29 (TASR-SLOVAKIA) - President Rudolf Schuster is convinced that Slovakia's membership of NATO will bring economic gains as well as security guarantees, he told SLOVAKIA in an interview ahead of the March 29 NATO enlargement ceremony.
Related U.S. investments could revive production in engineering companies, for instance, at Dubnica nad Vahom or in Detva, and also work at research facilities, he said.
"When U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Bratislava after the NATO summit in Prague (November 2002), he told me there would be a possibility of producing certain military products here," the President said.
"We have experience and expertise, so I see it as a realistic prospect."
He believes NATO will always be fundamental to European security and that Europe will not be able to fight terrorism without the United States, or without the cooperation of Russia and China.
"We should never want to divide the world into two camps - that would be dangerous," he said.
Slovakia is one of seven countries whose accession to NATO will take place at a ceremony in Washington D.C. on Monday.
According to Schuster, credit for the Slovakia's entry lies not only with domestic politicians, but also Slovakia's partners in the Visegrad Group (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia).
He also stressed that Slovakia could not be only a consumer of NATO's security benefits. "To have security without making a contribution would be very bad," he said.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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May 4 2004, 2:50 PM
Assassination plot (against Bush & Blair at NATO Summit) foiled by Turkey.
UK Sun ^ | May 3, 2004 | NICK PARKER
Posted on 05/03/2004 7:57:19 PM PDT by FairOpinion
AN al-Qaeda plot to blow up Tony Blair, George Bush and up to FIFTY other world leaders has been foiled.
Cops in Turkey yesterday unveiled a huge arsenal of weapons and explosives found stashed in preparation for a terror doomsday.
They are convinced the target was next months Nato summit in Istanbul.
And they believe the aim was to wipe out the Wests commanders of the War on Terror in an outrage that would dwarf the impact of September 11.
Simultaneous raids led to 25 members of the fanatical Islamist group Ansar al-Islam being arrested.
Horror haul ... arms and computer equipment cops seized
Nine were held in biggest city Istanbul and 16 in Bursa, a town 160 miles south.
Cops seized guns, explosives and bomb-making booklets, along with 4,000 compact discs giving training by al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden.
There were also timing dev-ices linked to mobile phones like those used in the Madrid bombings and fake ID cards.
Nine of those held in Bursa were last night charged with being members of an illegal organisation, an offence which can carry a ten-year sentence.
Target ... Blair will be at summit
Turkish TV reported that three had also been charged with plotting a suicide attack on the summit, but officials would not confirm this.
The other 16 suspects were questioned and released. It was not clear if they might still face charges later.
Security chiefs in Turkey have been on high alert since last years truck bomb assaults on the British Embassy in Istanbul and Jewish targets, which killed 61 people.
Ansar al-Islam are militants from Kurdish northern Iraq accused by the US of being an al-Qaeda splinter group.
Bursas governor Oguz Kagan Koksal said the arrests followed a year of surveillance.
He added: The organisation planning this attack has been destroyed.
Mr Koksal said Ansar al-Islam also planned attacks on US troops in Iraq.
Target ... US President Bush
The suspects were plotting a bank robbery to finance their operations and were involved in pirating PC software for cash.
Last night Nato said its two-day summit, which will discuss Iraq, will still go ahead as planned on June 28.
A spokeswoman said: The Turkish authorities are responsible for security and we have confidence in them.
Turkey is the only predominantly Muslim Nato member and is viewed as a prime target for Islamist groups because of close ties with the US.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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May 28 2004, 11:17 AM
NATO Parliamentary Assembly Kicks Off in Bratislava.
Novinite.com
Politics: 28 May 2004, Friday
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly spring meeting will start today in the Slovak capital Bratislava amid tight security.
Just a day earlier the Bratislava police disclosed two bags of explosives and charges near the building where NATO chiefs will gather. Over 300 representatives of the countries NATO members are expected to join the meeting.
The sites where the meetings will take place will be encircled by three security zones. If the situation remains under control, around 1,000 policemen will be deployed. Another 3,000 will be ready to take action if the security situation worsens.
NATO's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is also expected to come to Bratislava for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly session to outline the agenda of the upcoming summit in Istanbul.
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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June 29 2004, 11:55 AM
Bulgaria Prioritizes NATO Missions.
Novinite.com
Politics: 28 June 2004, Monday
Bulgaria has pledged to join a NATO mission in the Western Balkans as a member of the Alliance.
Talking at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, held during the NATO Summit in Istanbul, Bulgaria's President Parvanov said participation in a NATO mission in the Western Balkans will be among the country's priorities as an Alliance member.
During the summit, the first since the accession of seven new countries in March this year, Bulgaria's Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg confirmed the country's support for the accession of Albania, Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the Alliance.
NATO leaders agreed to help train Iraq's armed forces just hours after the new government in Baghdad took over sovereignty from the U.S.-led administration.
Bulgaria will apply to host the training of Iraq's armed forces, MP from ruling Simeon II National Movement Tsonko Kirov announced later in the day.
According to him the coalition forces, of which Bulgaria is a part, were likely to outsource the training outside Iraq.
US President Bush (R) chatting with Bulgarias President Parvanov at the NATO Summit in Istanbul, the first since the accession of seven new countries in March this year. Photo by www.president.bg
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Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
The US military will have a unique presence in Bulgaria, completely different from that seen so far across Europe, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and commander of American troops in Europe, General James Jones said upon his arrival in Bulgaria.
He conferred Tuesday with Defense Minister Nikolay Svinarov and Chief of Army Staff General Nikola Kolev over the plans of US commandment to locate small "mobile bases" in the Balkan country, unlike those existing until recently in Western Germany.
Their mobility can be also applied for operations within NATO's swift reaction forces, he pointed out.
General Jones has come to Bulgaria in the light of future stationing of US bases in the country. The Americans have shown interest tofor the grounds of Bezmer and Atia and also the firing ground at Novo Selo, near the town of Sliven, where special units can be drilled.
US plans envisage that Sliven's Novo Selo trains land troops, Yambol's Bezmer airport serves as air base, and Burgas' Atia offers the Pentagone a marine base.
The US will have four of five locations to choose from, General Jones said.
During his two-day visit, General Jones will personally visit the prospective military sites, including also the airports at Graf Ignatievo and the rocket-launching pad at Shabla.
Black Sea ports of Bulgaria, a full-fledged NATO member since April last year, have already been used by the US army during the Iraqi war in 2003.
General Jones last visited Bulgaria a year ago when he highly assessed the reforms in the Bulgarian Army as well as the work of the Balkan country's military forces participating in NATO peacekeeping missions.
NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and Commander of US troops in Europe, General James Jones is scheduled to visit Wednesday Bulgarian military bases at Novo Selo, Bezmer and Atia. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia News Agency)
Re: 7 New Members of NATO - The Alliance will number 26.
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January 19 2005, 12:02 PM
US Troops Move to Bulgaria, Romania in 2005, Russia Concerned
Politics: 14 January 2005, Friday.
The US troops may start their deployment from posts in Germany to new bases in Romania and Bulgaria this year, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and commander of American troops in Europe, General James Jones said.
The statement followed his trip to Romania and Bulgaria, where the US is to choose from four of five locations for the prospective military sites in each country. The facilities will be used by Army, Air Force, Navy or Marine units.
"This is part and parcel of the transformation of our footprint in Europe, which has been in need of surgery for some time," he said at NATO military headquarters in Belgium after a trip to Romania and Bulgaria.
"We've kept our Russian friends fully apprised of our intentions," Jones said in a bid to assuage Russian concerns about any eastern movement of U.S. forces.
Russia's Ambassador in Sofia reiterated Moscow's concerns. During his visit to the town of Stara Zagora, Ambassador Anatoli Potapov said he conferred with US Ambassador James Pardew and briefed him on Russia's government demand to be informed on US plans for moving its troops to Bulgaria.
Earlier this week General Jones paid a two-day visit to Bulgaria in the light of future stationing of US bases in the country. The Americans have shown interest tofor the grounds of Bezmer and Atia and also the firing ground at Novo Selo, near the town of Sliven, where special units can be drilled.
US plans envisage that Sliven's Novo Selo trains land troops, Yambol's Bezmer airport serves as air base, and Burgas' Atia offers the Pentagone a marine base.
Black Sea ports of Bulgaria, a full-fledged NATO member since April last year, have already been used by the US army during the Iraqi war in 2003.
Gerhard Schröder, the German Chancellor, has soured carefully choreographed efforts to heal transatlantic wounds by calling for a drastic overhaul of Nato and a bigger voice for Europe, just as George Bush prepares to visit Brussels.
Mr Schröder released a speech saying that Nato risked becoming outdated and was "no longer the primary venue where transatlantic partners discuss and co-ordinate strategies". The text proposed setting up a commission to propose improvements by the start of next year, and said "dialogue between the EU and the US neither reflects Europe's growing weight nor corresponds with new requirements of trans-atlantic co-operation".
The US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has said: "Nato has a great deal of energy and vitality. I believe they are undertaking the kinds of reforms to bring the institution into the 21st century. The place to discuss transatlantic issues clearly is Nato."
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Vaya con Dios!
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