Ministerial meeting of the US-Adriatic Charter
Members of the US-Adriatic Charter - Albania, Croatia and Macedonia – have invested considerable effort into meeting NATO membership criteria and expect from the November summit in Riga clear signals that the next NATO enlargement round will happen as soon as possible.
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Ministerial meeting of the US-Adriatic Charter
Members of the US-Adriatic Charter - Albania, Croatia and Macedonia – have invested considerable effort into meeting NATO membership criteria and expect from the November summit in Riga clear signals that the next NATO enlargement round will happen as soon as possible, the press was told after the morning part of a ministerial meeting of the US-Adriatic Charter in Brijuni on Tuesday.
The meeting was attended by foreign and defence ministers and representatives of foreign and defence ministries of the Charter member-countries, their colleagues from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and government officials of the United States, the partner-country of the US-Adriatic Charter (the A-3 Initiative).
Croatia's Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic said that the Brijuni meeting focused on the concrete experience of the three Baltic countries in drawing closer to NATO.
"Countries of the A-3 Initiative have voiced expectations regarding their future NATO membership. They expect from the Riga summit a clear signal that their achievements will be evaluated and that membership invitations will be sent as soon as possible," Grabar Kitarovic said.
Croatian Defence Minister Berislav Roncevic said that the morning part of the meeting focused on the involvement of the A-3 Countries in NATO missions, notably the peace mission in Afghanistan.
"Croatia is ready to expand its participation in the ISAF," said Roncevic, adding that an advance party consisting of 90 troops had already been sent to Afghanistan and that a 150-strong contingent would soon follow.
Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva said the Brijuni meeting confirmed that the spirit of unity, cooperation and solidarity among the member-countries continued and reiterated that her country too expected a clear signal from Riga that would lead to membership in NATO.
Albanian Defence Minister Fatmir Mediu said too he expected a firm timetable regarding his country's status in NATO.
Rosemary DiCarlo, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in charge of European and Eurasian affairs, said that her country was committed to the establishment of a lasting peace and stabilization in Southeast Europe.
We believe that Europe would not be stable, whole and peaceful without a stable, peaceful and entirely integrated Western Balkans, DiCarlo told reporters. The USA will continue to support the US-Adriatic Charter, DiCarlo said. She said that the A-3 Countries had already made great progress in the implementation of necessary reforms and in meeting NATO membership criteria and voiced hope that they would continue on that path and that NATO would be able to invite them to become full members in 2008.
Latvian Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks spoke to the press on behalf of the three Baltic countries. He said that the invitation to the three Baltic countries to attend the Brijuni meeting was very good and useful because of their recent experience in integration with Euro-Atlantic associations.
Pabriks said that Croatia was a regional leader because it had started talks on full EU membership and that reforms and the EU membership criteria which it had to meet largely overlapped with the NATO membership criteria.
Pabriks called for an organised and intensive campaign that would include government and non-government organisations to explain the advantages of NATO membership.NATO membership significantly reduces a country's security costs, Pabriks said.
After the news conference, delegations of the participating countries attended a lunch organised by President Stjepan Mesic. This afternoon they will attend two more sessions, which will also be attended by ministers from Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which aspire to become members of the US-Adriatic Charter.
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