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http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_15330,00050001.htm Hindustan Times July 15, 2002 Bush favorable to expanding, revamping NATO AFP Washington, July 13 -"I am interested in more rather than less, and at the same time I urged the applicant countries to take nothing for granted, to work very hard up until the last minute to show those of us in NATO that they will be willing and active and capable partners," said Bush. US President George W. Bush said on Friday that NATO must shift its focus from containing Russia to battling terrorism, and he renewed his conditional support for adding new members to the alliance. "The enemy has changed and the nature of the battlefield has changed, and therefore the NATO mission must remain the same -- which is mutual defence -- but its tactics must change," Bush said. On the issue of admitting new members to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Bush said "people know that I'm forward-leaning if the member countries meet their MAP (Membership Action Plan) requirements." NATO, which last expanded in 1999 taking in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, will say nothing officially about which countries are likely to get the nod at a November conference in Prague. "I am interested in more rather than less, and at the same time I urged the applicant countries to take nothing for granted, to work very hard up until the last minute to show those of us in NATO that they will be willing and active and capable partners," said Bush. The president's comments came during a roundtable of Polish reporters convened to set the stage for Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski's state visit to Washington on July 17-18. A summit of 10 Eastern European countries looking to join NATO ended last Saturday, with most of the nations happy that they are still on track to receive formal membership invitations by November. The Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, along with Slovenia are thought to be certain to join at the NATO summit in Prague. Bulgaria and Romania, who until recently were considered to be in the also-ran group, have caught up and observers say that they are now likely to join. Albania, Croatia and Macedonia however are not believed likely be invited to join. Bush did not directly answer whether Moscow might someday join the alliance as a full member but said that NATO/Russia ties must allow for the new relationship to develop and mature and I think it will in a very positive way." "Russia is no longer the enemy," he said, stressing that NATO must turn its attention from deterring an attack on Western Europe by Communist forces to the threats made clear by the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. NATO "really needs to adjust to the new realities of the 21st Century, and that is how to best fight the war on terror. And that means a different configuration of the use of our forces and the use of assets," said Bush. "Our forces need to be lighter and quicker to strikes. Elite units need to be prepared to move at a moment's notice," he said. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes http://autos.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
