Albania, Croatia, Macedonia Pledge Cooperation Toward EU, NATO Membership

Top foreign policy officials of Albania, Croatia and Macedonia are in Washington for discussions with U.S. officials on NATO membership and regional cooperation. The three officials say they will work together to win membership in both NATO and the European Union. At last year's NATO summit in Prague the three countries joined with the United States to form the Adriatic partnership to push their drive for NATO membership. All three countries are part of NATO's partnership for peace. And all three have contributed troops to peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan or Iraq. In a joint appearance at Washington's Woodrow Wilson Center the foreign policy, officials from Albania, Croatia and Macedonia said Balkan countries must be included in Euro-Atlantic institutions. They outlined their countries efforts to meet both NATO and European Union membership requirements. Croatian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Simonovic said his country hopes to start formal negotiations to join the European Union at the end of 2004. He is hopeful that with its now thriving economy Croatia will be able to catch up with Bulgaria and Romania, who could join the EU as early as 2007.