CROATIA: U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney lends support to three Balkan states seeking to join NATO and the European Union saying their entry would help rejuvenate the two Western clubs

Record ID: 596487

  • Title: CROATIA: U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney lends support to three Balkan states seeking to join NATO and the European Union saying their entry would help rejuvenate the two Western clubs
  • Date: 7th May 2006
  • Summary: SECURITY GUARDS STANDING OUTSIDE MEETING VENUE (2 SHOTS) SECURITY GUARDS IN A BOAT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF MEETING VENUE DUBROVNIK CITIZEN WITH SMALL DOG TALKING TO A POLICEMAN
  • Embargoed: 22nd May 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Croatia
  • Country: Croatia
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVAA37IBF7XF2BC2RS5VYCYM51L6
  • Story Text: U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney lent support on Sunday ( May 7) to three Balkan states seeking to join NATO and the European Union,saying their entry would help rejuvenate the two Western clubs.
    Cheney was speaking to a summit of the Adriatic Charter group, Croatia, Albania and Macedonia, in the picturesque port city of Dubrovnik as he wrapped up a five-day tour of ex-communist countries in transition to democracy.
    He hailed the three countries for their willingness to undertake democratic reforms and described their involvement in U.S.-led military operations in Iraq or Afghanistan as a very important step as well.
    " We understand the desire to join NATO and the European Union. We also believe that it is very important both for NATO and the EU to take in new members. People who aspire to join help to rejuvenate them and help us re-dedicate ourselves to the basic and fundamental values of democracy that are very important part of our collective security arrangements," he said at the opening of the meeting.
    Cheney's praise for the Adriatic leaders efforts stood in marked contrast to the stinging rebuke of Russia he delivered to Baltic and Black Sea heads of state at the outset of his trip in Vilnius on Thursday (May 4) Cheney made diplomatic waves at a time of increasingly chilly U.S.-Russian relations when he accused President Vladimir Putin of backsliding on democracy and using Moscow's vast energy resources to blackmail its neighbours.
    In 2003 Albania, Croatia and Macedonia signed the U.S.-backed Adriatic Charter to boost their chances of joining the Western military alliance, after missing out on its two big eastward expansion waves that followed the fall of communism.
    Croatia opened EU accession talks in October, hoping to join around 2009.
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