From PatDollard.Com
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) - President Bush says he “strongly supports” Croatian membership in NATO, but has declined to say if the former Yugoslav country will be invited to join the alliance at a summit next week.
In an interview with the state-run Croatian television broadcast Thursday, Bush said the decision will be made by all NATO members.
Bush has said that Croatia is in a “very good position” to be invited to join. Membership in NATO and European Union are among the country’s priorities.
Bush spoke in Washington before his trip next week to Ukraine, a NATO summit in Romania and Croatia.
In comments focusing on the Balkans, the president also said that recognizing Kosovo’s independence was “best” for the troubled region and expressed hopes that Serbia will in the end help its former province to succeed.
Bush said he supported supervised independence for Kosovo “because I think it’s best for the region and I think it’s most likely to lead to peace.”
“My hope is that the Serbian government will see that the Serbs in Kosovo are treated with respect, that their rights as a minority are respected and that it will eventually help Kosovo succeed as opposed to trying to hinder their success,” Bush said.
Kosovo, a former Serbian province, declared independence Feb. 17, triggering fierce protests from Serbia and its ally, Russia. The U.S. was among the first countries to recognize Kosovo as an independent state; more than 30 other countries have followed suit, including European powers like Britain, France and Germany.
Serbia insists the rights of Serbs living in Kosovo would be endangered in the majority ethnic Albanian state. Serbs in northern Kosovo have been protesting almost daily against its independence since it was declared.
1 comments:
Bush is right. Croatia is ready. At this time NATO can do the UN's job better than the UN can. Why wouldn't Croatia want to be part of that?
Rik
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