NATO, Ukraine strengthen ties as summit ends
July 9, 1997
Web posted at: 2:06 p.m. EDT (1806 GMT)
Latest developments:
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- The day after inviting Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to join their 16-nation alliance, NATO leaders ended their eastward expansion meeting on Wednesday by opening the door half-way for Ukraine.
Seeking to enhance its security, the former Soviet republic signed an agreement to tie itself more closely to NATO, just weeks after Russia did the same.
"Together with the historic NATO-Russia Founding Act (signed) in Paris this spring, we now see a new and broader and deeper alliance," U.S. President Bill Clinton told reporters on Wednesday during a news conference in Madrid.
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Mindful of a potential showdown in the Senate -- which must approve the addition of the three new members -- Clinton said he hoped news coverage of the NATO meeting would "stimulate discussion and debate among the American people."
"I hope when the American people hear the arguments, they, too, will strongly support the enlargement of NATO," he said. If approved, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic would join in 1999.
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Ukraine-NATO security pact
The NATO-Ukraine agreement is similar to a pact concluded in May between the Western alliance and Russia.
It pledges consultation and cooperation with Ukraine on a wide range of political and security issues, including proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. "Ukraine ... is ready ... to take an active part in the construction of a secure future for Europe and thus for the whole world," Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said at a signing ceremony in Madrid.
Ukraine under Kuchma has grown closer to the West while reforming its economy. All nuclear weapons have been removed from what was the third most potent nuclear power in the world.
Who's next for membership?
Leaders from the three Baltic states -- Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia -- said their own bid for NATO membership was likely to be enhanced once the alliance adds the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary.
Latvian President Guntis Ulmanis said he looked to the new invitees "to become advocates" for the Baltic states. Leaders from all six nations clasped hands in a symbolic gesture of cooperation.
Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac predicted Romania and Slovenia will be invited in 1999 to join NATO and that new members can be added at no additional cost.
His bid to have Romania and Slovenia included in the first wave of NATO enlargement was rebuffed by the United States, partly on the grounds of the high cost of bringing in five new members.
The French president warned that France will not make extra financial contributions to NATO to fund its enlargement into eastern Europe. The new members "must pay their own way," Chirac said in Madrid.
On Wednesday, NATO also inaugurated a new council of nations spanning North America, Europe and former Soviet Asia.
Leaders of the alliance and 28 partners formally launched the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, an organization intended to meet the security concerns of non-NATO members.
Correspondent Patricia Kelly and Reuters contributed to this report.
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