WASHINGTON, March 30 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said in Washington on Monday that Croatia's participation in a ceremony at the White House held on the occasion of NATO enlargement was a clear sign of support for
Croatia's efforts to draw closer to NATO.
WASHINGTON, March 30 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said
in Washington on Monday that Croatia's participation in a ceremony at
the White House held on the occasion of NATO enlargement was a clear
sign of support for Croatia's efforts to draw closer to NATO.#L#
Sanader was representing Croatia at the Washington event at which
seven former countries of the East European bloc formally joined
NATO.
We consider the invitation for Croatia to attend the ceremony as a
NATO candidate a very clear sign of support to Croatia and the other
two countries of the Adriatic Charter (Albania and Macedonia), Sanader
told reporters after the ceremony, which was hosted by US President
George Bush.
The Washington event is a very important, possibly a watershed in
Croatia's integration in NATO, the PM said.
Welcoming the prime ministers of the seven new members in his address
at the White House, President Bush also welcomed the prime ministers
of Croatia, Albania and Macedonia.
The troops of the three countries are participating in Afghanistan or
Iraq missions demonstrating their commitment while making efforts to
join NATO, Bush said.
These three countries, joined in the Adriatic Charter, build strong
democracies which can contribute to NATO's efforts. The United States
supports those efforts, Bush said, adding that NATO's doors would
remain open until the whole of Europe was united in freedom and
peace.
Speaking at a joint press conference held by the prime ministers of
the ten countries, Sanader said that Croatia and the other two members
of the Membership Action Plan, Albania and Macedonia, wanted to join
NATO as soon as possible.
Croatia aspires to that goal because it wants to share the common
values of democracy, freedom, the rule of law, human rights and market
economy which the Alliance represents, he said.
Trans-Atlantic cooperation between Europe and the USA has no
alternative, Sanader said.
"Europe needs the USA and the USA needs Europe, and Croatia needs both
the USA and Europe, it wants to be a member of both the EU and NATO,"
Sanader said.
In an earlier address to reporters, Sanader said that Croatia was no
longer satisfied with NATO's open-door policy and would ask President
Bush and other senior US officials to state clearly at the Istanbul
summit that Croatia would be the next country to be admitted to NATO.
He made a similar statement during talks with NATO Secretary-General
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Sunday.
After the meeting at the White House, Sanader told reporters that they
did not discuss concrete decisions or dates regarding Croatia because
the ceremony was about the cooperation of all with NATO and was
therefore not a suitable occasion.
It is difficult to say at the moment if Croatia would be invited to
join NATO or if any concrete dates will be mentioned at the Istanbul
summit, but Croatian diplomats are working on that, he said.
Sanader said that during his talks with US Vice President Dick Cheney,
Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and
his deputy Paul Wolfowitz he got the impression that the door was
already open to Croatia.
(Hina) rml