Romanian president says his country wants Albania, Macedonia and Croatia in NATO

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) – President Traian Basescu said Friday that Romania supports having Albania, Macedonia and Croatia join NATO.

Basescu made the comment after meeting NATO’S secretary general months before a summit in Bucharest, Romania’s capital.

“Romania unreservedly supports (NATO) enlargement with Croatia, Macedonia and Albania,” Basescu said. “Beyond enlargement, the summit wants to bring Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro closer to the alliance.”

Basescu was echoing comments made Thursday by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who said the 27 allies would decide in the next few weeks whether to invite Croatia, Albania and Macedonia to join NATO at the summit in Bucharest.

De Hoop Scheffer also said that the alliance is considering closer ties with Ukraine, Georgia, Serbia and Bosnia.

The NATO secretary general was in Bucharest for one day to oversee preparations for the April 2-4 summit. US President George W. Bush and the government leaders of other NATO members will attend the summit, which will be the largest in the alliance’s history. Romania, a NATO member since 2004, has 500 soldiers in NATO missions in Afghanistan and 80 soldiers in Kosovo. There are also about 400 soldiers in Iraq.