Albania, Croatia and Macedonia should do more to receive an invitation to start negotiations for NATO membership, foreign ministers of the military alliance said Friday.
"We recognize the strong reform efforts being made by the three countries ... and urge them to intensify their respective efforts," the foreign ministers said in a communique after their meeting here today.
Albania, Croatia and Macedonia have joined NATO's membership action plan, the most advanced stage toward NATO membership before formal invitations to join.
All three countries are eager to get the invitation at the April 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest so that they can formally join the alliance at the following summit in 2009, when NATO celebrates its 60th anniversary.
NATO foreign ministers said that at the Bucharest summit, only those countries who meet NATO's performance-based standards and are able and willing to contribute to Euro-Atlantic security and stability will be invited, without further indication which one of the three candidates is hopeful.
However, they said NATO remains open to the new European members.
Source: Xinhua
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