EUROPE: Romania, Bulgaria may be added to NATO list
 
By
Michael Mann and Phelim McAller

Richard Armitage, the US deputy secretary of state, yesterday gave the clearest signal yet that Romania and Bulgaria may be added to the list of more advanced east European countries that will be invited to join NATO this year.

At a conference in Bucharest of 10 heads of state hoping to be included in the expansion of the defense organization due in November, Mr. Armitage said: "We want the most robust round of enlargement possible. We want to bring in as many countries as are qualified from the Baltic, to the Black Sea, to the Adriatic. No country is excluded. "The remarks underline a shift in the thinking over NATO enlargement that was started by comments from US President George W. Bush last June in Warsaw, and has become more marked since last September's attacks on America.

Bulgaria and Romania are hoping to capitalize upon their part in aiding the US operations in Afghanistan. Both countries have opened their airspace to US warplanes and the US is also using a Bulgarian Black Sea base for refueling aircraft.

NATO officials in Brussels, however, stressed that nothing was definite yet about the next enlargement of the alliance, although they agreed there had been a marked change in mood over the past few months.

"The mood of most nations is to go for a substantial enlargement rather than a small one, to be maximalist rather than minimalist," said one NATO official. "But even those who are most likely to join still have their problems." He pointed to the difficulties Slovakia would face if Vladimir Meciar, its former autocratic leader, was re-elected as prime minister later this year.

NATO, concerned about Russia's reaction, had originally considered admitting only Slovenia and Slovakia, which would join Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary - members since 1999.

However, Washington has shifted ground, partly in response to pressure from lobbies supporting the inclusion of the three Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but also influenced by the September 11 attacks on the US. Given the pace of reforms among the applicant countries, diplomats say most of the 19 NATO countries now want to include the Baltic States as well as Slovenia and Slovakia at NATO's summit in Prague in November. But officials said there were doubts among some members about whether Bulgaria and Romania were ready for membership.

"Some people have qualms of a practical nature about countries like Bulgaria and Romania, even if they are keen politically," said one NATO diplomat.

Mr. Armitage said yesterday that America's mind was open but that it was up to each individual country to earn membership and that the reform of applicant militaries must continue. Both Romania and Bulgaria have made progress downsizing their armies and modernizing military structures. However, Michael Guest, the American ambassador in Bucharest, recently warned Romania that the country's endemic corruption was the biggest barrier to it being granted membership.