CROATIAN PRESIDENT WELCOMES NATO'S OPEN DOOR POLICY

PRAGUE, Nov 22 (Hina) - Croatia applauds the success of the countries which were invited to join NATO in Prague on Thursday as well as the open doors policy the leaders of the alliance confirmed on that occasion, President Stjepan Mesic said on Friday. #L# Addressing a session of the Euro-Atlantic Council in the Czech capital, Mesic said that for Croatia it was significant that NATO's doors should remain open as membership in the European Union and NATO was its foreign policy priority. "We are knocking on that door," he said. NATO yesterday invited Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia into its ranks. General secretary George Robertson said on that occasion the admission of those countries did not mark the end of NATO's expansion and that its doors remained open. NATO's final statement at the summit, however, clearly indicated that Croatia must first meet its commitments, including cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Many tasks await Croatia in its drawing closer to Euro-Atlantic integration, its President said today. "We are aware of the tasks before us: adopting NATO standards, meeting a series of political, economic and military criteria, restructuring our armed forces and fully and unreservedly depoliticising them," said Mesic. Without meeting those obligations, Croatia will not be able to realise its aspirations and "any hesitation... can cost us dearly," he said. Later in his address, the Croatian head of state reiterated the world was faced with new challenges and dangers, the first being global terrorism. "My country is an active member of the world's anti-terrorist coalition. We believe the struggle against global terrorism has to be waged on two tracks: through direct operations in the field... but also through long-term action aimed at the elimination of the environment which breeds terrorism and facilitates its survival," said Mesic. (hina) ha