Croatia expected to receive NATO invitation at Bucharest summit

06/03/2008

Croatia, Albania and Macedonia are all hoping for invitations at next month's NATO summit in Bucharest. The invitations could mean membership in 2009.

By Ana Blazevic for Southeast European Times in Zagreb - 06/03/08

NATO Secretary-General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer (right) and Romanian President Traian Basescu look at the billboard for the upcoming NATO summit in Bucharest. [Getty Images]

Croatia, Albania and Macedonia all hope to receive invitations from NATO to join the Alliance at the April summit in Bucharest. NATO foreign ministers are meeting Thursday (March 6th) in Brussels, just weeks ahead of that.

Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu has assured his Croatian counterpart, Gordan Jandrokovic, that Zagreb can expect an invitation to membership.

In Washington, US Senator Richard Lugar, a member of the foreign relations committee, proposed that the US Senate support Croatia, Albania and Macedonia receiving invitations in April. Lugar said they "will each play an important role in preserving peace and stability in Southeastern Europe".

However, US President George W. Bush is making no promises. After meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Friday, Bush said that while the United States supports the idea, it at the same time feels it must urge the three countries to speed up necessary changes.

"I am looking forward to getting the assesment of the progress these three nations have made ... before we take the vote on enlargement," Bush said at the press conference after his meeting with the NATO chief.

De Hoop Scheffer agreed on the the need for ongoing political, economic and military reforms and confirmed there will be a vote on enlargement in Bucharest.

Even though Bush and de Hoop Scheffer are being careful with their predictions, Kosovo's independence and Serbia's subsequent reaction are a strong motivation to include the three Southeast European countries in the Alliance, as their NATO membership would significantly boost stability in the region.

Macedonia's chances, however, are threatened by Greece's announcement it will veto the invitation if the Greece-Macedonia name dispute is not resolved.

The two-day Bucharest summit begins on April 2nd.