(NSI News Source Info) April 1, 2009: Slovenia took the action on Croatia's behalf at the State Department on Monday, after doing the same for Albania on March 3, Gordon Duguid, a department spokesman,said. 
Croatian Army soldiers attend a briefing after joint military exercises with members of the Minnesota National guard at Gasinci training centre, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of Zagreb on February 26, 2009. NATO is expected to welcome Croatia and Albania as new members at a summit in April.
"The deposit of Slovenia's instrument of ratification completed the individual ratification process of all 26 NATO allies needed for the admission of Albania and Croatia into NATO," Mr Duguid said.
NATO Secretry General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer "will now issue official invitations to Albania and Croatia to join NATO," he said.
Croatia and Albania will "take their seats as members of the alliance" at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's 60th anniversary summit at the end of the week, he added.
In Ljubljana on Friday, Slovenian President Danilo Turk officially ratified Croatia's accession to NATO, after a referendum that threatened to hold up the process failed to materialize.
The two neighbors are involved in a long-standing border dispute that has already stalled Croatia's EU accession process. But Slovenia insisted that the row did not effect Zagreb's NATO bid.
After Greece ratified Croatia's accession in mid-February, Slovenia was the last of the 26 NATO members not to have handed the alliance its signature.
Croatian Army soldiers attend a briefing after joint military exercises with members of the Minnesota National guard at Gasinci training centre, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of Zagreb on February 26, 2009. NATO is expected to welcome Croatia and Albania as new members at a summit in April.
"The deposit of Slovenia's instrument of ratification completed the individual ratification process of all 26 NATO allies needed for the admission of Albania and Croatia into NATO," Mr Duguid said.
NATO Secretry General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer "will now issue official invitations to Albania and Croatia to join NATO," he said.
Croatia and Albania will "take their seats as members of the alliance" at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's 60th anniversary summit at the end of the week, he added.
In Ljubljana on Friday, Slovenian President Danilo Turk officially ratified Croatia's accession to NATO, after a referendum that threatened to hold up the process failed to materialize.
The two neighbors are involved in a long-standing border dispute that has already stalled Croatia's EU accession process. But Slovenia insisted that the row did not effect Zagreb's NATO bid.
After Greece ratified Croatia's accession in mid-February, Slovenia was the last of the 26 NATO members not to have handed the alliance its signature.
No comments:
Post a Comment