PM SANADER TO ASK US LEADERSHIP TO SUPPORT CROATIA'S EFFORTS TO JOIN NATO

ZAGREB, March 29 (Hina) - Croatia's Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said in Washington on Monday that he would ask the US leadership to ensure that Croatia be told at NATO's forthcoming summit in Istanbul that it was the next country due to be admitted to the Alliance.#L# Sanader is in Washington for a ceremony given on the occasion of the entry of seven new countries to the Alliance: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Sanader and his counterparts from the said countries will meet with US President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney. State Secretary Colin Powell and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Before the ceremony in the White House, Sanader told reporters that his country was not satisfied with only the open doors policy for NATO. He said Croatia was going to ask the US leadership to ensure that at the Istanbul summit in June, it was clearly stated that Croatia would be the next country to join NATO. Asked when he expected the invitation to Croatia to join the alliance, he answered that this could happen very soon. "If this does not happen at the Istanbul summit, and judging from everything it will not, as the invitation to new accessing countries is not on the agenda, this can happen on any other occasion," Sanader said. "I expect this very soon as regards Croatia," he added. Besides the prime ministers of the seven new NATO members, Sanader and his counterparts from Albania and Macedonia were also invited to the ceremony in the White House. Croatia, Albania and Macedonia want to enter the alliance very soon. Sanader described the invitation to him and the premiers of Albania and Macedonia as proof that the three countries were on a good path and that NATO treated their membership candidacies very seriously. (Hina) ms