CROATIA COULD BE ADMITTED TO NATO IN NEXT ROUND - GALBRAITH ( Editorial: --> 2225 )

( Editorial: --> 2225 ) ZADAR, Nov 19 (Hina) - US Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith said on Wednesday that Croatia would become a strong candidate for NATO membership in the next round if it fulfilled all peace commitments and became a democratic society. If Croatia meets all its commitments from the peace agreements, not reluctantly but unreservedly and with enthusiasm, and if it becomes a democratic and pluralist society, it will become a strong candidate for NATO membership in the next round at the end of 1999, Galbraith a panel discussion on American-Croatian relations at the Faculty of Philosophy in the coastal town of Zadar. Galbraith said that Croatia had made very great progress in the process of peaceful reintegration of the Danube region and in cooperation with the Hague-based war crimes tribunal. (hina) vm 201059 MET nov 97