BUCHAREST - Washington wants to admit as many new countries to NATO as are fit to join, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Tuesday, leaving the door open for Romania and Bulgaria if they press ahead with reforms.
Diplomats expect up to seven ex-communist nations to be invited to join the alliance at a November summit in Prague, but Armitage said that the onus was on them to ``do the heavy lifting'' before then to justify their inclusion.
``We're looking to the widest possible accession,'' he told a news conference after addressing a meeting of 10 east European NATO hopefuls in Bucharest, where candidates sought to present a unity of purpose to existing alliance members.
``Our minds remain open,'' Armitage told delegates after reading a letter from Senate leaders which stressed Washington was serious about expanding NATO in the Balkans, as existing members Greece and Turkey want, but only if reforms continue.
``We have not made any decisions yet about which countries should be invited to join NATO,'' he said, adding that candidates had until late October to show they were ready. ''Whether or not you are invited to join NATO is truly in your own hands.''
For Romania and Bulgaria this means continuing to overhaul their large armed forces and answering questions about their political and economic readiness, with a crackdown on the rampant corruption plaguing both countries the top priority.
Encouraged by President Bush's call last year to extend NATO from the Baltic to the Black Sea and helped by the shift in priorities after the September 11 attacks, the two Balkan candidates believe their moment may have come at last.
``Our NATO membership will complete a real democratic shield against terrorism, consolidating the southern flank of the alliance,'' Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg said.
His Romanian counterpart Adrian Nastase also called for NATO to fill in the gaps between Western Europe and the alliance's only Muslim member, Turkey, which is likely to play a key part in any prospective U.S.-led operation against Iraq.
``NATO's enlargement toward this region will strengthen the military capabilities of the alliance,'' Nastase said, noting both nations' contribution to peacekeeping in former Yugoslavia and support for coalition operations in Afghanistan.
But they have left it late to present a regional case, particularly when compared to the Baltic lobbying group forged by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which diplomats view as almost certain to be invited to join NATO in Prague.
Slovenia is also seen as a virtual shoe-in, along with Slovakia, provided its former autocratic leader Vladimir Meciar is not reelected as prime minister later this year.
Albania and Macedonia, which also attended the summit, are not seen as viable members for now, while Croatia has yet to start formal accession preparations.