Seven new members welcomed into NATO; Russia reacts negatively (04/04/04)

Seven new members welcomed into NATO; Russia reacts negatively

RFE/RL Newsline

WASHINGTON - The prime ministers of seven new member-states delivered accession documents to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington on March 29, formalizing their membership in NATO and expanding the Atlantic military alliance into countries once under the Soviet sphere of influence, international news agencies reported.

The move brings the number of NATO members to 26, all pledged to defend each other militarily if any member comes under attack.

In a White House ceremony marking the historic expansion - the fifth since NATO's founding in 1949 and the first since Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary joined in 1999 - U.S. President George W. Bush welcomed Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia into the alliance.

"The people of these seven nations were captives to an empire. They endured bitter tyranny. They struggled for independence," President Bush said. "They earned their freedom through courage and perseverance, and today they stand with us as full and equal partners in this great alliance."

President Bush stressed NATO's openness to further expansion. Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia are likely candidates for the next round of expansion.

Prime Ministers Juhan Parts of Estonia, Indulis Emsis of Latvia and Algirdas Brazauskas of Lithuania participated in the NATO-accession ceremonies in Washington.

"Latvia's accession to the alliance is a great day for our nation," BNS quoted Mr. Emsis as saying as he deposited the country's accession documents with the U.S. State Department. "It is a day for celebration, a long-awaited moment and fulfillment of a long-cherished aspiration."

Lithuanian Parliament Speaker Arturas Paulauskas, who was among parliamentarians and foreign dignitaries assembled at the Parliament building to watch the event live on television, said: "When we heard NATO planes roaring today, while sitting at a radio station studio, we understood that NATO is a reality."

Meanwhile, in Russia, officials and commentators reacted negatively on March 29 to the admission of seven new members to NATO, Russian media reported. Duma Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev (Unified Russia) noted that four of the new members - the Baltic states and Slovenia - have not signed the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) and that this failure could produce "a gray zone" that would worry Moscow, ITAR-TASS reported.

Duma Defense Committee Chairman General Viktor Zavarzin (Unified Russia) said Russia must rethink its defense posture now that the Baltic states have joined NATO. "Taking into account NATO actions, we can adjust our military-construction plans. Moreover, I believe outlays for national defense should be boosted," Mr. Zavarzin was quoted by ITAR-TASS as saying on March 29.

As NATO's expansion was being formalized, four Belgian F-16 fighter jets landed at Lithuania's Zokniai airport near the northern city of Siauliai on March 29, shortly before NATO-accession ceremonies in Washington, Lietuvos Rytas reported on March 30.

The aircraft will patrol the airspace over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Lithuanian armed forces commander Major General Jonas Kronkaitis and Air Force commander Colonel Edvardas Mazeikis attended a ceremony at the airport to welcome the pilots.

The defense ministers of the three Baltic states on March 29 issued a joint statement in Washington in which they welcomed the beginning of NATO air patrols over their territories and gave assurances of their states' readiness to provide technical and legal support in implementing the airspace-surveillance system.

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