The NATO summit in Bucharest in April 2008 will be mainly concerned with the issue of accessions. Their number will be limited, and the Allies will hold out encouragement to Ukraine and Georgia. On the operational side Kosovo will no longer be a major concern, and the Allies should agree on a joint strategy on Afghanistan. The issue of the anti-missile shield will remain doubly contentious, from both a transatlantic point of view and that of the future relationship with Russia. This summit appears important, but will above all serve to prepare NATO’s 60th anniversary summit in 2009.
The Issues at Bucharest
At Riga in 2006 the Allies had planned that the Bucharest summit would be devoted to accessions, while the 60th anniversary summit in 2009 would be dedicated to reflection on concepts and structural reform. Nevertheless, other subjects will certainly come up: operational questions remain a major preoccupation, and the NATO/Russia relationship will be on everyone’s mind.
Enlargement
Accession negotiations are in hand with Croatia, Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), which have all signed an accession Action Plan. Others, such as Ukraine and Georgia (which are part of the Partnership for Peace—PfP), want to sign an Action Plan in Bucharest. All these countries are in the East European zone.
Accessions Planned for 2008
The most likely accession of the three countries is that of Croatia. Since its entry into the Action Plan process in March 2005, it has been preparing actively for its accession with major reforms in the defence field and reform of its institutions, and has contributed to the NATO force in Afghanistan.
Il reste 93 % de l'article à lire
