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| NATO AND THE BALKANS 7/03/2008 |
| (2008-03-07) |
| Last updated: 2008-03-10 14:01 EET |
On Thursday in Brussels, the NATO Foreign Ministers attended their last informal meeting before the summit that will be hosted by the Romanian capital Bucharest between April 2nd and 4th. The main issues on the agenda, such as NATO enlargement, co-operation with Russia, the Kosovo file or the accession of the former Soviet republics, might take on a more concrete shape, that of decisions made at the Bucharest summit. Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu has stated that Romania supports NATO enlargement to include the three Balkan candidates Croatia, Albania and Macedonia, and has reasserted the country’s stance on Georgia and Ukraine, which hope to get action plans for NATO accession at the April summit.
“I have stressed, again, the fact that we support NATO enlargement in Bucharest with all the three candidate states and also that NATO’s partnerships in the region are paramount. The alliance needs a wider approach with regard to the Western Balkans. We have underlined the fact that we should not isolate Serbia, even if the latest developments in Kosovo have been of the utmost interest to us all. We have also reiterated our will to grant Georgia and Ukraine action plans for accession.”
Talking about the two former Soviet states, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheefer has said that no decision with regard to their accession has yet been made, but the doors of the alliance remain open to everyone. Scheffer has also stated that he hopes to be able to announce at the Bucharest summit that the NATO family will expand to include Albania, Croatia and Macedonia. Previously, Greece had stated its determination to block Macedonia’s efforts to get the status of NATO member, for refusing to change its name, which Athens says it is part of its heritage. Another topic of discussion was Serbia. The deputy head of the Crisis Management Department within the NATO International Secretariat, an American of Romanian descent, Mihai Carp, says that NATO’s general vision of the Western Balkans incorporates Serbia as an important player in the region.
“Serbia is going through some very important times. Belgrade is probably taking the international community’s support for Kosovo as a rejection, but NATO officials say this would be a mistaken interpretation, because the alliance has long been prepared to improve its relations with Serbia. All doors are open to Serbia. In fact, this is also true with regard to the EU. But, for the time being, Serbia has decided to keep its distance for a while, and this is regrettable, because we are very much interested in bringing it into the Euro-Atlantic family.”
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2025-04-03
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