US Senate backs NATO expansion

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2006

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Senate unanimously endorsed the entrance of Albania, Croatia, Georgia and Macedonia into NATO in a measure passed weeks before a summit of the alliance in Riga. In an act passed late Thursday that included nearly 20 million dollars in new security-related assistance for the four countries, the Senate said it also was ready to consider Ukraine's entrance into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

"Lasting stability and security in Europe requires the military, economic, and political integration of emerging democracies into existing European structures," the act said. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Richard Lugar said the body supported "timely admission" into the Atlantic alliance for the four Eastern European states. "If NATO is to...