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NATO discusses bids of Balkans, ex-Soviet nations

NATO was to discuss the accession hopes of five would-be members yesterday as the alliance considers a new expansion east aimed at nurturing Balkan stability, but which could increase tensions with Russia.

Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels were to assess the readiness of a trio of Adriatic countries -- Croatia, Albania and Macedonia -- plus Ukraine and Georgia to move closer toward the goal of membership of the Western military alliance.

Diplomats tip Croatia as most likely to win an invitation at a summit next month to join NATO. It could be joined by Albania and Macedonia, although Macedonia is facing a Greek threat to block its bid in a long-standing row over its name.

Georgia and Ukraine can at best hope to be offered a so-called "membership action plan" preparing them for accession at a later date, although some nations, including Germany and France, doubt they are even ready for that.

While Russia cannot block NATO membership steps, allies know that deepening ties with ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia risks damaging further ties with Moscow that are already badly strained over Kosovo's Western-backed secession from Serbia.

Even the US, traditionally a firm backer of the two countries' aspirations to join NATO, was cagey about their prospects ahead of the Brussels talks.

"The United States in principle has always said that ... when countries are ready for these various stages that NATO ought to have an open door to them," said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is in Brussels.

"That continues to be our position. But I think we are going to want to have discussions," she told reporters.

Political tensions on NATO's eastern flank eased on Wednesday as Ukraine and Russia reached agreement to restore gas supplies to Ukraine, averting the risk of cuts in deliveries to western Europe.

But aside from the row over Kosovo's independence -- which Moscow firmly opposed -- NATO allies and Russia face continued wrangling on issues ranging from a planned US missile shield in eastern Europe to a dispute over a key Europeans arms treaty.

Efforts to deepen NATO ties across the region have hit a potential stumbling block over the threat by alliance member Greece to block Macedonia's entry in a row over its name.

Macedonia said in a two-page advertisement in the London Times yesterday that it should not have to change its name to overcome Greek objections to its hopes of joining NATO.

The advertisement included one page with a list of 30 reasons why the country would make a good member of the alliance.

On the second page, the advertisement featured an excerpt from an agreement Macedonia reached with Greece in 1995, along with declarations that the former Yugoslav republic had been a peaceful neighbor.

Addressing Greece's objections to its NATO membership, which Athens opposes because Macedonia is also the name of a northern Greek province, and it worries it could imply a claim on its territory, the advertisement read: "Where is the principle here? Where is the justice?"

It continued: "Not be able to be and call yourself what you have been for centuries -- is that freedom and justice? Macedonia should become a member of NATO, because it deserves it [sic]."
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