Macedonia, Croatia, Albania to further cooperation for NATO membership

Macedonia, Croatia and Albania confirmed on Monday they will further their cooperation to gain the membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Macedonian Information Agency (MIA) reported.

According to the report, the Chief of General staff of Macedonian Armed Forces Miroslav Stojanovski and his counterparts Pelumb Qazimi from Albania and Josip Lucic from Croatia issued a joint statement during their meeting in Ohrid, southwestern Macedonia.

The three Balkan countries will boost their cooperation in the direction of strengthening of joint efforts for Euro-Atlantic stability and security through consistent implementation of the Adriatic Charter, the statement reads.

They expected to get an invitation for the NATO membership at the Alliance's summit next year, however, the Alliance's expansion with new members had been postponed for 2008, the MIA said.

During the meeting, the chiefs exchanged their experiences in the defense reforms and their opinions on the perspectives of the further joint performance in the process of the NATO integration.

The high military representatives from the NATO, the United States and other regional countries also attended the meeting.

The Adriatic Charter was signed in May 2, 2003, in Tirana by the foreign ministers of Albania, Macedonia and Croatia and the then-US Secretary of State Colin Powell, aiming at promoting the reforms undertaken by the three Balkan countries for their NATO membership.

Source: Xinhua