SKOPLJE, Nov 14 (Hina) - Croatia, Macedonia and Albania intend to cooperate in promoting their candidacy for NATO membership because they are the only three countries of the Vilnius (V-10) group which will not be invited to join NATO
at its summit in Prague next week, Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula said in Skoplje on Thursday.
SKOPLJE, Nov 14 (Hina) - Croatia, Macedonia and Albania intend to
cooperate in promoting their candidacy for NATO membership because
they are the only three countries of the Vilnius (V-10) group which
will not be invited to join NATO at its summit in Prague next week,
Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula said in Skoplje on
Thursday. #L#
"We have suggested that Macedonia, Croatia and Albania advance
their cooperation with regard to drawing closer to NATO very soon,
which will enable them to strengthen their candidacy for membership
in the period after the Prague summit as... they will not be invited
to join NATO at the Prague summit," Picula said after talks with his
Macedonian counterpart Ilinka Mitreva.
Seven countries will be invited to join NATO at next week's summit
in Prague, NATO officials stated on Monday. Three Baltic countries
- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - expect to be invited to join NATO
along with Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria, which means
that all V-10 Group countries except for Croatia, Macedonia and
Albania, will join NATO.
Minister Picula will on Friday stand in for Prime Minister Ivica
Racan at a plenary session of Central European Initiative prime
ministers, which takes place at the end of a three-day business
forum.
(hina) rml sb