Washington, D.C., April 25, 2005 (Hina) – Croatia, Albania and Macedonia expect to receive an invitation to enter NATO at the alliance’s 2006 summit, ambassadors of the three countries said in Washington on Monday.
Ambassador Neven Jurica of Croatia, Fatos Tarifa of Albania and Nikola Dimitrov of Macedonia took part in a round-table discussion on the U.S.-Adriatic Charter, which was organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The second anniversary of the signing of the charter will be marked on May 2 in the Albanian capital of Tirana.
Speaking about progress the three countries made in reforms in the defense sector and in the strengthening of democracy and the market economy, the ambassadors said that Croatia, Albania and Macedonia deserved to be invited into NATO at the alliance's summit in 2006.
Croatia's ambassador Jurica said that the three countries should be evaluated according to their individual progress on the path toward NATO.
He added that Croatia strongly supported NATO's policy, missions, operations and initiatives and would continue looking for how much it could concretely contribute to the alliance, on its own and in cooperation with other countries.
Ambassador Jurica recalled that a Croatian contingent was engaged in NATO's mission in Afghanistan and that Zagreb would consider other possibilities for its contribution to both military and civilian efforts in that Asian country.
The Croatian ambassador said that his country was also backing efforts of the international community aimed at establishing peace, stability and democracy in Iraq. In this context he said that 15 ill Iraqi children were treated and six Iraqi forensic experts were trained in Croatia. Croatia is planning to help in the training of Iraqi forces in Jordan, which is expected to begin in July this year.
Janusz Bugajski, the CSIS East Europe Project director, who moderated the debate, said that Croatia had made extraordinary progress in meeting criteria for its admission to NATO.
Asked by reporters whether a stumbling block to Croatia's admission into NATO was its failure to send troops to Iraq and to sign a bilateral agreement on non-extradition of U.S. nationals to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Bugajski said that a part of the problem lied within Croatia's vacillation to show its strong support to the United States while it was trying to joint the European Union.
This may be wrong to a certain extent, given that countries such as Romania and Bulgaria expressed strong support to the U.S. without jeopardizing their entry to the EU, he added.
(Hina)