Conveying a message of State Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Stevens who is Deputy State Secretary, told representatives of Croatia, Macedonia and Albania, countries-signatories to the Adriatic Charter, that the charter played an important role in cooperation and maintaining stability in the region. In this context she stressed that Washington welcomed and supported further cooperation of the three countries on the path toward membership of the alliance.
Present at the two-day conference, which began in the Albanian capital on Monday, were NATO's Assistant Secretary General, Guenter Alenburg, Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister Damir Polancec, Foreign Ministry State Secretary Hidajet Biscevic, Croatian Ambassador to the United States Neven Jurica and the Croatian national co-ordinator for NATO, Pjer Simunovic, as well as delegations from Macedonia and Albania.
Officials from Serbia-Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina were also invited to attend the conference as future signatories to the charter.
Participants in the conference underlined their joint efforts aimed at promoting regional stability and meeting conditions for entry into NATO.