Co-chairmen of the Congressional Croatian Caucus, George Radanovich and Peter Visclosky, asked the U.S. administration to provide Croatia with support when deciding on the countries to be invited to the NATO.
They sent the letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. To support their request, they stressed the progress Croatia had made.
The Honorable Robert Gates
Secretary
U.S. Department of Defense
The Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301
Dear Secretary Gates:
In light of the political decision-making process currently underway at the highest levels of NATO member-state governments concerning which aspirant countries will be extended invitations at the next NATO summit, to be held in Bucharest, Romania in 2008; we are writing as co-Chairs of the Congressional Croatian Caucus to respectfully request support for Croatia to receive a formal invitation to join the Alliance at this summit. In support of this request, we would like to underscore the tangible progress that Croatia has made to date towards NATO's performance based standards for membership, as well to emphasize the effective contribution Croatia could bring in furthering the collective defense and overall mission of the Alliance and in enhancing U.S. national security interests in the region of Southeast Europe.
Croatia's commitment as a future member of NATO has been consistently demonstrated by strategic activities the Croatian government has undertaken since Croatia's entry into NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) and Membership Action Plan (MAP). These programs have kept Croatia and other NATO aspirant countries constuctively focused and engaged in cooperative security activities consistent with NATO principles. Now in its sixth MAP cycle, Croatia has proven to be a reliable partner in the international community's efforts to build long-term support and stability and has been an active supporter of the global coalition against terrorism. In particular, Croatia demonstrated its willingness to become an active contributor to non-Article V NATO operations in the ares of crisis management and crisis response. Special efforts have been made by the Croatian government to increase Croatia's contribution to the Alliance's most challenging mission to date - The NATO-led ISAF operation in Afghanistan - by providing 200 troops in 2007 with an envisaged increased of up to 300 in 2008.
In its efforts to meet the performance-based criteria for full NATO membership, over the years we have witnessed significant progress by the Croatian government in pursuing extensive political, economic and defense reforms. Moreover, as a EU candidate country, Croatia is rapidly approximating its domestic legislation to Euro-Atlantic institutions thereby creating a safe and well-defined democratic society with stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minority rights and the existence of a free market economy. In addition, the Croatian government continues to execute its Long-Term Development Plan of the Armed Forces [2006-2015], with the aim of achieving a smaller, more maneuverable, financially sustainable and deployable armed forces which will fully conform to NATO's deployability standards.
Furthermore, the Croatian government has effectivelly addressed concerns raised by some NATO member countries on the need to increase public support for NATO membership by embarking on a comprehensive information campaign led by leading Croatian political figures, including President Stipe Mesic, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and the Speaker of Parliament Vladimir šeks. With the aim of attaining long-term sustainable support of the Croatian people for NATO membership, the Croatian government's comprehensive dialogue with the Croatian public since 2006, has provided strategic guidance as to the benefits and responsibilities stemming from Croatia's membership in the Alliance, as well as in the lead up to full membership. These efforts to date have already demonstrated tangible results with public supports in Croatia currently standing at approximatelly 52%.
In pursuing extensive political, economic and defense reforms since it's independence, Croatia has proven to be a reliable partner in the international community's efforts to build long-term support and stability in the region of South East Europe. The Croatian government itself has fully recognized the fundamental importance of sharing its vision of Euro-Atlantic integration with other countries in the region, by embarking on various effective regional initiatives such as the U.S. Adriatic Charter for Partnership with Albania and Macedonia, and more recently with the new Partnership for Peace (PfP) countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Moreover, Croatia has also demonstrated its commitment to partake in NATO's projection of security and stability in South East Europe and the Mediterranean, from the Black Sea and the Caucasus's towards Central Asia and the Middle East. In this respect, Croatia has assumed a lead role in various peace and security initiatives most notably within the framework of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) and the South East Europe Defense Ministerial (SEDM).
As the Co-chairs of the Croatian Congressional Caucus, we strongly believe that the support voiced by the U.S. Congress for Croatia's full NATO membership as well as other MAP aspirant countries, has served as an effective catalyst to ensure that comprehensive programs of reforms continue and provide valuable support for further efforts for achieving long-term stability and security in the region of South East Europe. Most recently, Congress again re-affirmed its support for further NATO enlargement, when both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate unanimously adopted the NATO Freedom Consolidation Act of 2007 in March of this year. The legislation was later signed into Public Law by President Bush on April 9, 2007. This Act confirmed the significant progress made by Croatia and its US-Adriatic Partner countries - Albania and Macedonia - and endorsed U.S. assistance to help aspirant countries complete their preparations in readiness for the next round of NATO enlargement.
We particularly welcomed the November 2006 NATO Riga Summit Communique, in which NATO's Heads of State and Government again reaffirmed that "NATO remains open to new European members under Article 10 of the Alliance's Treaty, and unanimously decided to 'to extend further invitations to those countries who met NATO's performance based standards and are able to contribute to Euro-Atlantic security and stability, as its next Summit in 2008.' Messages such as the Riga Summit Communique confirmed that Croatia is on the right track and provided an additional incentive to stimulate further necessary reforms by Croatia in its last phase of preparations for full NATO membership. In this respect, we are deeply encouraged by the leadership shown by President Bush over the last year to promote NATO membership for all Europe's democracies that seek it, and most notably for endorsing Croatia's admission to NATO.
Croatia has benefited greatly from the substantial investment already made by the United States in South East Europe. This investment and support represents the United State's belief in Croatia as a viable partner to promote the Euro-Atlantic vision with democratic ideals throughout the region. During a time when the support of emerging democracies in the region of South East Europe couldn't be more important for serving U.S. national security interests, Croatia's admittance into NATO no later than 2008 is very timely. NATO membership would not only securely anchor those MAP countries who meet the Alliance's performance based standards, within the Euro-Atlantic family, but could create real political impetus for the rest of the region to follow the same path.
Finally, we would like to reiterate our conviction that Croatian government has demonstrated to the world though its sustained democratic, economic and political reforms to date, that Croatia is deserving of NATO membership at the Bucharest Summit in April 2008. In this regard, we call upon the U.s. Administration to take the lead in urging its allies to open the doors of NATO and offer timely admission to Croatia.
George Radanovich Peter Visclosky
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