Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Financial Times
January 25, 2008 By Stefan Wagstyl, Stephen Fidler and Chrystia Freeland
Nato countries are divided over the alliance’s enlargement plans as decisions loom over membership bids from Croatia, Albania and Macedonia and applications for future membership from Ukraine and Georgia.
With the organisation’s summit in Bucharest taking place in early April, Nato governments must make decisions in the next few weeks.
Nato diplomats said Washington had wanted the summit to focus on enlargement and backed reaching out to new members, not least to signal to Russia the west’s commitment to the Balkans and the Black Sea region.
But, they said, some western European allies – including Germany, Italy and France – had reservations about provoking Moscow, which strongly opposes western influence in former Soviet territory.
The deepest Nato split is over requests by Ukraine and Georgia for membership action plans, the ante-room to membership. Ukraine surprised many by requesting such a plan this month in a joint letter from its president, prime minister and the speaker of parliament.
The request prompted a rebuke from Russia’s foreign ministry, which said Ukraine’s integration with Nato would “seriously aggravate” Moscow-Kiev relations.
In Davos, Victor Yushchenko, Ukrainian president, urged Europe and the US to support its application. “Having had discussions with our strategic and political partners and with our European friends, we think it is appropriate to expect that we will receive a positive answer ... at the Bucharest summit,” he told the FT.
Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, met Mr Yushchenko this week. State department officials said she had indicated Washington’s support for Ukraine’s effort to join the membership action plan.
The US is pressing for membership invitations for Croatia, Albania and Macedonia.
January 25, 2008 By Stefan Wagstyl, Stephen Fidler and Chrystia Freeland
Nato countries are divided over the alliance’s enlargement plans as decisions loom over membership bids from Croatia, Albania and Macedonia and applications for future membership from Ukraine and Georgia.
With the organisation’s summit in Bucharest taking place in early April, Nato governments must make decisions in the next few weeks.
Nato diplomats said Washington had wanted the summit to focus on enlargement and backed reaching out to new members, not least to signal to Russia the west’s commitment to the Balkans and the Black Sea region.
But, they said, some western European allies – including Germany, Italy and France – had reservations about provoking Moscow, which strongly opposes western influence in former Soviet territory.
The deepest Nato split is over requests by Ukraine and Georgia for membership action plans, the ante-room to membership. Ukraine surprised many by requesting such a plan this month in a joint letter from its president, prime minister and the speaker of parliament.
The request prompted a rebuke from Russia’s foreign ministry, which said Ukraine’s integration with Nato would “seriously aggravate” Moscow-Kiev relations.
In Davos, Victor Yushchenko, Ukrainian president, urged Europe and the US to support its application. “Having had discussions with our strategic and political partners and with our European friends, we think it is appropriate to expect that we will receive a positive answer ... at the Bucharest summit,” he told the FT.
Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, met Mr Yushchenko this week. State department officials said she had indicated Washington’s support for Ukraine’s effort to join the membership action plan.
The US is pressing for membership invitations for Croatia, Albania and Macedonia.