Posted on 06/19/2004 10:04:27 AM PDT by knighthawk
Skopje, June 18 (MIA) - "NATO's doors still remain opened," US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld wrote in the telegram, which he sent on the occasion of the ministerial conference of the Adriatic Charter signatories.
"I believe that Macedonia, Albania and Croatia are in a phase of implementation of the Action plan for membership and the reforms in the sphere of defense. The NATO Summit in Istanbul will be a forum, at which further improvement of the cooperation with the three countries will be discussed," Rumsfeld pointed out.
Emphasizing that the Conference takes place in a very significant period, i.e. before the Istanbul Summit, Rumsfeld expresses gratitude to Macedonia, Albania and Croatia for their participation in the missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Ping
I was surprised to see Albania included as a potential NATO member. But then I recalled that we went to against the Christian Serbs to aid the Kosovo Albanians and it began to make sense. I think. Well anyway, it makes sense in today's world, which makes no sense at all anymore anyway.
Pre-Communist Albania was about 30% Christian. The Communists tried to eliminate religion entirely (even more than other Communist regimes) and it's hard to say how many people there are practicing Muslims, Orthodox, or Catholics today. At any rate Turkey is a Muslim country of 71 million people and a NATO member; Albania has 3 million people. I would worry less about their Muslims than the anti-Western Muslims in some of the Western European NATO members.
Not only Albania, but Macedonia too. Croatia, OTOH, could probably fit without too much friction.
I'm just curious, why are you surprised by Macedonia?
"I'm just curious, why are you surprised by Macedonia?"
I'd say, because they have a serious internal unrest problem which does not need to be externalized any more than it has already been.
Turkey is also a very uncomfortable "fit" into NATO, in my mind. But their saving grace is that Turkey is run by a secular government which more or less suppresses the insanity of radical Islam. I don't know of any other nation made up mostly of Muslims which does not have some form of Islamic law guiding their government policies.
>>>I don't know of any other nation made up mostly of Muslims which does not have some form of Islamic law guiding their government policies.
Albania's President is Catholic and its P.M. is Orthodox. Albanian government and society is very secular and Western-oriented from a cultural point of view, the economy is another matter.
I doubt that Albania, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, or Kyrgyzstan have Islamic law despite having Muslim majorities, but I haven't investigated the situations in those countries.
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