Slovakia says it and six other countries would become NATO members at a ceremony on April 2 in Brussels
Published:
3 March 2004 y., Wednesday
Slovakia says it and six other countries would become NATO members at a ceremony on April 2 in Brussels, months before a summit originally planned to welcome them in June.
"There will probably be a ceremony in Brussels on the level of foreign ministers in April... but we are still not sure what the official ceremony will be like," said Slovak Foreign Ministry spokesman Juraj Tomaga.
Mr Tomaga says there would probably be another celebration to mark the landmark enlargement sometime later.
Ex-communist states Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria were initially expected to join NATO at a flag-raising ceremony in Istanbul at the end of June.
Their admission will take the defence alliance from 19 to 26 members.
NATO's first wave of eastward expansion came in 1999 when Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined. This enlargement will extend the 54-year-old alliance's land-link to its furthest eastern member Turkey.
NATO's most influential member, the United States, is expected to shift military bases from western Europe to the former eastern bloc and sharply reduce its 70,000 troops in Germany, a legacy of the Cold War.
Šaltinis:
abc.net.au
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Ministry of foreign affairs of Lithuania invites foreign citizens to take the quiz “Millennium of Lithuania. Culture and history”.
more »
President Adamkus underlines that today Lithuanian and Azerbaijani nations are linked by very special strategic ties that are strengthened even further by Azerbaijan‘s continuing efforts to develop relations with the European Union.
more »
Many experts believe that the offshore pipeline project poses a serious threat to the Baltic Sea environment because hazardous chemical weapons from World War II are still dumped at the bottom of the sea.
more »
President Valdas Adamkus extended, on behalf of himself and the people of Lithuania, congratulations to President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia on the occasion of Independence Day.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus sent congratulations on behalf of himself and the people of Lithuania to the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Horst Köhler, on his victory in the presidential election.
more »
President Valdas Adamkus congratulated President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina on the occasion of national holiday - Revolution Day - and extended best wishes for the well-being and prosperity of the Argentine people.
more »
On 22 May, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas met with the United Arab Emirates’ Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is paying an official visit.
more »
President Valdas Adamkus received letters of credence from the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi.
more »
On 18-19 May, Lithuania’s Undersecretary of Foreign Ministry took part in the meeting of European Union’s Ministers for Development Cooperation. The meeting was a on the agenda of the General Affairs and External Relations Council.
more »
On 15 May at Klaipėda University, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas opened an international conference “Baltic Marine Innovation Forum”, and welcomed the united forces of the Government, business and science representatives as well as diplomats, who care for the future of the Baltic Sea region.
more »