ALBRIGHT EXPECTS CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO COME IN WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON, April 16 (Hina) - The U.S Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, is expecting that top officials of countries neighbouring with Yugoslavia (Serbia/Montenegro) will come in Washington during the NATO summit, as it is certain that the discussion on Kosovo will mark that forthcoming meeting, a high- ranking official at the State Department said on Thursday. From 23 to 25 April heads of state of the 19 NATO member countries and of 25 countries covered by the Partnership for Peace programme will gather in Washington. The State Department said in response to the question of Hina that Albright would like that Foreign Ministers Mate Granic and Jadranko Prlic will come in Washington and take part in talks on the Kosovo crisis, although Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are not member- states either of the NATO or the Partnership for Peace programme. The official of the State Department announced that summit would also accept a programme for membership in the NATO. The programme should confirm that the Western Alliance remains open for new members and a series of measures and conditions will be defined for countries that tend to enter the NATO, on the grounds of the experience from the procedure of admitting the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland into the Alliance. Asked about a possible change in the strategy or even in the fundamental document of the NATO, the US official said the NATO had already determined that its task would be to ensure stability in Europe. Since 1991 one could not talk about the previous concept of the NATO activities, we should rather talk about the tasks of the Alliance in new conditions, he explained. Commenting on Kosovo, Mrs. Albright recently described the NATO as the protector of democracy, stability and basic human values on the European soil. (hina) ms