American officials said the three countries had made goodprogress towards meeting NATO standards.But Nicholas Burns, the State Department's third most senior official, added that they needed to do more to strengthen democracy and fight corruption.
Burns added that NATO knows Albania, Croatia and Macedonia want to join as soon as possible, but said the alliance had not set adefinite date for them to become members.NATO officials have regularly dodged questions about whether 2008 was a firm target for the three countries to join thealliance. NATO's Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, inJanuary restated that the door remains open for new members, but he refused to discuss possible entry dates.
NATO officials point out that membership is not important solelyin providing military security but in cementing a member state'soverall political and social stability. Membership obliges states to respect political and economic standards, including free and fair elections and the rule of law, and to combat organised crime and corruption and build up government structures underpinned by viable tax and customsrevenues. Measured against those criteria, NATO officials admit Tirana still has some work to do. The country has made progress on the military side, for example, but has not yet transformed the armed forces from a communist-style conscript army to a professional force, which can be harmonised with NATO.
In 2008 the NATO Summit will be held and Albania expects an invitation to membership.What Albania needs to do to join NATO has been spelled out on many occasions and the Albanians have been given a fair amount of assistance to achieve those ends. Albania needed to work harder on the rule of law and combating corruption, in particular, to show it is really capable of assuming the responsibilities of NATO membership.Many people in Albania do not seem to understand that this [NATO membership] entails responsibilities as well as a protective umbrella. However, the foreign ministers of Albania, Croatia and Macedonia said in Washington that they had fully grasped this point. Neven Mimica, chair of the Croatian parliament's integration commission, said in Tirana earlier this month that it was still realistic to hope all three could join in 2008. NATO membership was a milestone on the way to meeting another major goal for the three countries, namely membership of the EU.
Burns added that NATO knows Albania, Croatia and Macedonia want to join as soon as possible, but said the alliance had not set adefinite date for them to become members.NATO officials have regularly dodged questions about whether 2008 was a firm target for the three countries to join thealliance. NATO's Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, inJanuary restated that the door remains open for new members, but he refused to discuss possible entry dates.
NATO officials point out that membership is not important solelyin providing military security but in cementing a member state'soverall political and social stability. Membership obliges states to respect political and economic standards, including free and fair elections and the rule of law, and to combat organised crime and corruption and build up government structures underpinned by viable tax and customsrevenues. Measured against those criteria, NATO officials admit Tirana still has some work to do. The country has made progress on the military side, for example, but has not yet transformed the armed forces from a communist-style conscript army to a professional force, which can be harmonised with NATO.
In 2008 the NATO Summit will be held and Albania expects an invitation to membership.What Albania needs to do to join NATO has been spelled out on many occasions and the Albanians have been given a fair amount of assistance to achieve those ends. Albania needed to work harder on the rule of law and combating corruption, in particular, to show it is really capable of assuming the responsibilities of NATO membership.Many people in Albania do not seem to understand that this [NATO membership] entails responsibilities as well as a protective umbrella. However, the foreign ministers of Albania, Croatia and Macedonia said in Washington that they had fully grasped this point. Neven Mimica, chair of the Croatian parliament's integration commission, said in Tirana earlier this month that it was still realistic to hope all three could join in 2008. NATO membership was a milestone on the way to meeting another major goal for the three countries, namely membership of the EU.
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