BUCHAREST, Romania, Mar 25, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Poland's president urged Europe to mute its criticism of Washington's war on terror, telling a summit of prospective NATO members Monday that American lives were the first ones lost in the fight against "the evil" threatening the world.
Aleksander Kwasniewski's comments reflected a main topic of concern at the opening of the two-day summit - the changing threat facing NATO and its allies more than a decade after the collapse of the Soviet bloc removed the menace of large-scale conventional ground war in Europe.
The meeting brought together leaders from the 10 candidate countries - Romania, Slovakia, Macedonia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Albania, Croatia, Bulgaria and Slovenia - as well as guests from NATO member states, like Kwasniewski, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
The meeting is one of a series being held before a NATO summit in November in Prague, where the U.S.-led alliance will decide which countries to admit.
Armitage, delivering a message from President Bush, said that while the threats facing NATO have changed, its role should not be diminished in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and solidarity among its members should be strong.
"As all civilized nations seek to address the threats of global terror, the bonds uniting NATO members are more important than ever," he said.
Kwasniewski, alluding to growing European opposition to any major expansion of Washington's war on terror beyond Afghanistan, urged U.S. allies to support the campaign against terrorism while also appealing to the United States to listen to European concerns.
"Let us not forget that it is the American soldiers that were the first to stand up to the evil" exhibited in the Sept. 11 attacks, he said. "They often paid the price of life - they continue to pay."
Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase said the region's countries were ready to join the alliance and were already contributing as full NATO members in the war against terror.
"We have opened our air spaces, airfields and port facilities to Allied forces," Nastase said. "And we're now taking part in the (peacekeeping) mission in Afghanistan."
Bulent Ecevit, the prime minister of NATO-member Turkey, said the alliance was in the process of adapting to post-Cold War realities by focusing on new security threats and collaborating with former foes such as Russia.
"Military threats of a conventional and nuclear nature have diminished," Ecevit said. "But threats such as terrorism, nationalism, organized crime, drug trafficking and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction" are moving across borders.
He added that these new threats will be better tackled by an enlarged alliance and urged NATO to expedite the admission of southeastern European countries. "This dimension of enlargement will contribute to the extension of security and stability to this most sensitive area," Ecevit said.
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Bulgaria, are regarded as candidates that stand a good chance of receiving invitations to join NATO at the November summit.
Albania, Macedonia and Croatia are considered less likely to be admitted because of lagging economic or political reforms or the legacy of Balkan warfare.
By GEORGE JAHN Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
