"Today is a very important day for the region. We are launching a new campaign in a bid to be admitted to NATO under the slogan 'Invitation, Not Later Than 2008'", Macedonia's Buckovski said after the trilateral meeting.
Croatia's Sanader added that for the start, the three prime ministers would sent a joint letter to NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer ahead of the alliance's summit in the Latvian capital of Riga, scheduled for November this year.
The three prime minister said they expected much of the Riga summit although they were aware that the event would not focus on the alliance's enlargement.
"We know that it will not be a summit meeting on enlargement, but we expect strong messages to be sent to our countries, notably in a final document of the meeting," Sanader said adding that during his recent talks with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the secretary general had told him that "everything is possible".
Berisha, the host of the Durres meeting, also expressed high expectations of the Riga summit.
Commenting on the aspirations of Croatia, Macedonia and Albania to join the alliance as soon as possible, Sanader said that "NATO is not just a military alliance but it is a alliance committed to freedom, the development of democracy, the respect for human and minority rights, the rule of law and market economy. We also embrace those values and want to become a part of that integration process."
Sanader reiterated that individual results of the candidate countries would be evaluated before joining the alliance.