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NATO for compromise on
expansion
Dr Abdul Ruff
The crucial 02- 04 April three-day summit of leaders from the 26-nation
NATO alliance in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, billed as the biggest
in the alliance’s 59-year history, concluded in a compromise solution
that allowed all competing sides to claim victory. The Nato enlargement
and efforts to rally support for the Nato-led force in Afghanistan
dominated the agenda. Taking a balancing course on its expansion move
and getting more troupes for Afghanistan with Russian help for its
operations in the troubled Afghanistan, NATO told the two former Soviet
republics that they were not getting immediate MAP status but could be
sure of membership at some point in the future.
Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told the BBC he supported
membership for the former Soviet states. “There’s no way that the door
will be locked for Ukraine and Georgia,” he said. “The Nato Treaty very
clearly states that European democracies fulfilling their criteria for
Nato membership are welcome.” Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he understood
Russian concerns but added that the “final decision will be taken by the
allies and not by anybody else”. Croatia and Albania were also invited
to begin negotiations to join the organisation.The delegation from
Macedonia left the summit prematurely after hearing that it would be
denied membership for the foreseeable future.
US president George W. Bush, seen as the prime-mover, came to the meet
with a prime objective of seeking NATO expansion and he repeated his
call for NATO to expand eastwards. Speaking in Romania ahead of NATO’s
summit in Bucharest, he said the former Soviet states of Ukraine and
Georgia should be offered clear paths to membership. In a joint press
conference, Bush said he “strongly believed” Croatia, Albania and
Macedonia should be able to join Nato as full members. He strongly
supported calls by Montenegro and Bosnia-Hercegovina for “intensified
dialogue” on membership. “We ought to open the door to closer
co-operation with Serbia,” he also said. He added that “Nato membership
must remain open to all of Europe’s democracies that seek it, and are
ready to share in the responsibilities of Nato”. Greece had demanded
that Macedonia first change its name, because there is already a Greek
province called Macedonia.
There has been mistrust among the NATO members about the goals of its
operations in Afghanistan and hence have not sent sufficient troupes
there. Bush said “we cannot afford to lose Afghanistan” and urged more
Nato states to “step forward” with troops. Many countries, including
France have come up with supplying troupes to Afghanistan. NATO supplies
currently reach Afghanistan by air or across the hazardous Pakistan
border. Russia and NATO members have repeatedly denied suggestions of a
deal where Georgia and Ukraine would be sacrificed in return for a deal
on Afghanistan access. NATO is keen to seek Russian territory to transit
supplies to Afghanistan, NATO members have become commited to sending
more troops to Afghanistan.
The decision was announced at the NATO summit, where Secretary General
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer confirmed an extra French battalion would be sent
immediately. Other countries would be pledging smaller numbers.NATO said
that it wanted to work more closely with the Afghan government to allow
it to eventually take over more tasks from the organisation. Bush
appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept US missile shield
installations in Europe. The US says they are needed to counter a
potential threat from Iran, though Moscow fears they could be used
against Russia. Bush also spoke of his forthcoming talks with outgoing
Russian president Vladimir Putin - whom he will meet at the summit, and
again at private talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi at the
weekend. The US leader said he would make clear to Putin that “the Cold
War is over and Russia is not our enemy”. “This is a good chance for me
to sit down and have yet another heart-to-heart with him,” he said.
However, it seems there is rift among the European members on
enlargement issue. The move was opposed by Russia, Germany and France
and effectively blocked, since Nato must agree unanimously on new
members. The prospect of more ex-Soviet states joining Nato is opposed
by Russia, while Nato members France and Germany have warned that it
will worsen relations with Moscow. Russian foreign minister Sergei
Lavrov said his country would not sulk over the expansion plans - but
stressed that they would not “go unanswered”. “But we will respond
pragmatically, not like small boys in school who sulk at those who bully
them, run out of the room, slam the door and start crying in the corner.
We must concentrate on increasing our economic power and taking our
defense capabilities to a higher technologic level.”
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said of Ukrainian and Georgian
membership: “We think that it is not the correct response to the balance
of power in Europe.” Macedonian officials said the rejection was a “huge
disappointment” that would undermine stability in the Balkans. Georgian
diplomats earlier said the expected “no” would be a victory for Russia,
which has voiced concerns at Nato’s eastward expansion. Germany’s
Chancellor Angela Merkel said Ukraine and Georgia should have a
long-term prospect of Nato membership, but that now was not the time for
Membership Action Plans (MAP) to be extended to them. “We have reached
the conclusion that it is too early to give both countries MAP status,”
she said.
While Russia objects to NATO admitting Ukraine and Georgia, Greece has
said that, if no last-minute compromise is reached, it would veto an
invitation to Macedonia to join Nato because it objects to the country’s
name. Macedonia is also the name of a province in northern Greece, and
Athens worries that this could imply a claim on its territory. The BBC’s
Jonathan Marcus in Bucharest says the invitations for Albania and
Croatia are a damage limitation exercise after the summit atmosphere was
poisoned by the diplomatic wrangling.
President Bush has got what wanted and expected of the meet among the
European nations. He’s fully aware of the opposition by Russia and other
few member-states of NATO, but agreed with the NATO for going slow with
expansion move, possibly, President Putin leaves Kremlin. Russia
strongly opposed the membership of the two former Soviet bloc countries
and called the NATO decision ‘a huge strategic mistake’ and hence the
revised strategy of NATO. The Nato-led force in Afghanistan currently
numbers 47,000 troops from 40 nations. Commanders have called for a
further 10,000 soldiers to be deployed. Romania and France have already
undertaken to send extra forces. France’s Nicolas Sarkozy announced at
the summit in Romania hundreds of extra French troops for Afghanistan.
US president is sure to get the support of Russian in its operations in
Afghanistan and some what pacified Putin on the nuclear shield issue
which both would discuss soon in Russia.
As a premium to Russian gestures, NATO has successfully persuaded Bush
to be lenient on expansion issue for the time being by keeping the
Ukraine and Georgia in abeyance. Interesting fact, therefore, remains
Bush, known thus far as arrogant person, has some what shed his
rigidity. After all Russia is different from other countries of the
globe with which Washington has been dealing with. Nato has confirmed it
will not offer membership to Georgia or Ukraine but agreed to review the
decision on the ex-Soviet republics in December. The alliance also said
it would not invite Macedonia to join amid protests from Greece over
Macedonia’s name. But Nato confirmed that Balkan neighbors Albania and
Croatia would be asked to join the club. For NATO the door is always
open, but needs a perspective for accession.
Pursued rigorously by Bush, Nato leaders also agreed to fully endorse US
plans to build a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. US President
George W Bush has said he is pleased by Nato allies’ responses to calls
to send more troops to support the government of Afghanistan. To put it
bluntly, USA obtained a tactical victory over not only Russia, but even
the European allies of the Western Alliance. That is how matters have
been ever since NATO came into being on April 04, 1949.
