Croatia gets new boost for 2008 NATO entry bid
Source: Reuters
HELSINKI, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Croatia won new backing for its bid to enter NATO in 2008 on Thursday when conservative leaders from around Europe joined Washington in urging an alliance summit next month to begin steps to welcome it in. Croatia and neighbours Macedonia and Albania are eager to join NATO but missed out when it expanded to the east in 2004, taking in other ex-communist states. President George W. Bush said this week he would urge next month's NATO summit in Latvia's capital Riga to back Croatia's admission to the alliance in 2008, and Zagreb won similar support from European conservatives at a meeting in Helsinki. "The European People's Party (EPP) calls on its members to engage in the preparation of the NATO Riga decisions with a view to Croatia's 2008 membership," they said in a statement. The EPP is the largest political grouping in the European Parliament and brings together Europe's conservative parties, including those in government in countries such as Germany, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Sweden. Croatia is seen as the most advanced of the Balkan membership hopefuls but NATO diplomats have expressed concern about democratic standards and the pace of reform in all three. An alliance spokesman said this week they could expect the Nov. 28-29 Riga summit to make a "clear, forward-leaning statement" on their membership prospects but that an invitation would depend strictly on performance.
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