(President) Bush Welcomes Seven New NATO Members

President Bush (news - web sites) welcomed seven former Soviet-dominated nations into NATO (news - web sites) on Monday, saying the 55-year old Western alliance would be strengthened because "tyranny for them is still a fresh memory."

The expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to 26 members was celebrated as NATO signaled a willingness to play a military role in Iraq (news - web sites) if authorized by a new U.N. Security Council resolution.

Standing with prime ministers in a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, Bush said the new members "earned their freedom through courage and perseverance and today they stand with us as full and equal partners in this great alliance."

Joining Bush under bright sunshine were the leaders of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Three of the new members — the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia — are former Soviet republics. As recently as 15 years ago more than 100,000 Red Army soldiers were stationed there.

"As witness to some of the great crimes of the last century, our new members bring moral clarity to the purposes of our alliance. They understand our cause in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and in Iraq," the president said, "because tyranny for them is still a fresh memory."

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the alliance might be willing to play a role in Iraq if the U.N. Security Council authorized an international security force to serve there. It might even be willing to take command of part of that force, De Hoop Scheffer told reporters.

That would be a major step, since the alliance has been divided by the war in Iraq. France and Germany, two of NATO's key European members, opposed the war. And public opinion in other member countries, including Spain, is against sending troops.

De Hoop Scheffer said NATO might get involved if the Security Council passed a resolution and if the governing body that takes political control in Iraq on June 30 asked for troops.

"I think that the NATO allies would enter that discussion with a positive attitude, which could mean that NATO, as far as command is concerned, could participate or could take over a certain part of the stabilization force," he said in an interview with a group of reporters ahead of the White House ceremony.

De Hoop Scheffer said he hoped the 18 NATO countries that presently have forces in Iraq under U.S. command will keep them there.

Bush praised those NATO countries for their help in Iraq, and also those playing a peacekeeping role in Afghanistan.

NATO was originally established in 1949 by the United States, Canada and 10 European countries to confront the Soviet Union's military strength in the Cold War.

"NATO'S core mission remains the same: the defense of its members against any aggression. Today, our alliance faces a new enemy, which has brought death to innocent people from New York to Madrid," Bush said.

"Terrorists hate everything this alliance stands for. They despise our freedom. They fear our unity. They seek to divide us. They will fail," Bush added.

The White House ceremony was attended by hundreds of people, some waving flags of the new member nations. As each leader was introduced, a loud cheer went up from a different part of the audience.

The new members will take their seats at NATO's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday. Three other nations — Albania, Croatia and Macedonia — still hope to join.

"The door to NATO will remain open until the whole of Europe is united in freedom and in peace," the president said.

U.S. officials have minimized worries that NATO expansion could cause tensions with Russia, but President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites)'s government has warned that Moscow intends to take steps to defend itself should it perceive NATO's eastward push as a threat.

After the ceremony, prime ministers from the seven new NATO countries and from the three that hope to join next spoke with reporters at the National Press Club.

"Our accession to the alliance is a decisive step towards creating a Europe whole and free," said Algirdas Brazauskas, prime minister of Lithuania.

Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda of Slovakia said NATO membership would bring more security to Europe and "provide a better chance for its democratic forces to fight against terrorism." Juhan Parts, the prime minister of Estonia, said membership was not a one-way street and his country was ready to do its part to "ensure that NATO remains a stable and secure alliance."

http://www.dod.mil/news/Mar2004/n03302004_200403301.html

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld welcomes the seven new NATO allies during a March 29 ceremony at the Corcoron Art Gallery on Capitol Hill.

Bush Welcomes Seven New NATO Members By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2004 – President Bush welcomed seven new NATO members at a March 29 White House ceremony, noting the alliance "is made stronger by their presence."

Bush, accompanied by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, congratulated the prime ministers of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, pointing out that their countries had once been imprisoned behind the former Soviet Union's "Iron Curtain."

"The people of these seven nations were captives to an empire," Bush said, adding they "endured bitter tyranny. They struggled for independence."

Bush said the new NATO members have "earned their freedom through courage and perseverance" and now have joined the United States "as full and equal partners in this great alliance."

The president noted that NATO's mission to defend free nations against aggression harkens back to when the organization was founded in 1949 as a bulwark against Soviet expansionism in Europe.

He said today's global terrorism is "a new enemy which has brought death to innocent people from New York to Madrid."

Terrorists hate NATO and "despise our freedom," Bush said. "They fear our unity" and "seek to divide us." NATO's 26 member nations "will face the mortal danger of terrorism, and we will overcome it together."

The president said NATO is acting to meet present-day challenges. "NATO forces are securing Afghanistan, (and) NATO ships are patrolling the Mediterranean," he said. "And NATO is supporting the Polish-led division in Iraq."

Bush applauded the anti-terror military support provided by the seven new NATO members. Bulgaria provided refueling assets during the Afghanistan conflict, he noted, and sent more than 400 troops to Iraq. Estonian and Latvian military engineers, he added, are clearing explosive mines in Iraq.

Lithuanian and Slovakian troops, Bush said, also are serving in Iraq. Romanian troops have been killed fighting terrorists in Afghanistan, he noted, while Slovenian forces are protecting the Afghan capital city of Kabul.

Bush also praised NATO aspirants Albania, Croatia and Macedonia, noting their contributions in Afghanistan or Iraq are "proving their mettle."

Later in the day at a National Press Club briefing, Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase told reporters his country "was ready to share the burdens" of NATO membership.

Romanian troops also are serving in Iraq, Nastase observed, "not merely for military purposes," but also for "stabilizing the political situation and for involving themselves in a very serious way in the reconstruction of a country which has suffered a lot."

NATO's unity and commitment to freedom "carried us to victory in the Cold War," Bush pointed out at the White House ceremony. The alliance, he said, can continue, "to advance freedom and give hope and support to those who seek to lift the yoke of isolation and fear and oppression."

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