By KUNA
Brussels : Heads of state and government of NATO will gather in the capital of Romania, Bucharest, 2-4 April in the 26-member Alliances largest summit ever to discuss its present operations, enlargement, and the new security challenges.
NATOs operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo and the issues related to enlargement will be the main topics for discussion, NATO spokesman James Appathurai told journalists in Brussels Wednesday afternoon.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon, President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana among others are expected to participate in the high-level meeting on Afghanistan on Thursday (3 April) at the sidelines of the NATO summit.
“This meeting is a demonstration of what we call a comprehensive approach to Afghanistan that it is not simply a military issue but a full spectrum of areas in which there needs to be international support and which include governance, reconstruction and development,” noted the spokesman.
The summit is expected to adopt a comprehensive political and military plan for Afghanistan.
The plan is divided into two parts, one is a detailed confidential document which will set out very clearly where NATO and the international community should be going in the coming years.
The second part is a public vision document which will set out for the public confirmation of NATOs commitment of what it is doing in Afghanistan.
Appathurai said Pakistan has not been invited to the special meeting on Afghanistan because only troop-donor countries and international organizations like the World Bank have been invited.
Thirty-nine countries are contributing troops to the Alliances ISAF mission which currently has 47 000 troop in Afghanistan to fight Taliban insurgents.
On Thursday, 3 April, NATO leaders will receive the leaders of the invitee countries poised to join the Alliance.
Three Balkan countries Albania, Croatia and Republic of Macedonia are members of NATOs Membership Action Plan (MAP) which is the most advanced stage toward Alliance membership before formal invitations to join.
However, Greece is threatening to veto Macedonias membership due to a name dispute. Hence, the NATO spokesman declined to say whether all three Balkan states will be invited to the Bucharest summit.
“I cannot guess how many invitees there will be,” he said.
NATO leaders will also discuss aspirations of Georgia and Ukraine to join MAP, but Russia is vehemently opposed to it.
“Everyone is aware of the regional context in which the aspirations of Ukraine and Georgia to move closer to NATO are taking place,” said Apapthurai.
“European democracies have the right to make their own defence associations. No third party will influence that process. NATO’s door is open, ” he stressed.
Russias incoming President, Dimitry Medvedev, has warned that granting NATO membership to the two former Soviet Republic could threaten European Security.
Outgoing Russian President Valdimir Putin will attend the NATO-Russia Council on Friday 4 April on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
The two sides are expected to discuss Afghanistan, Kosovo and also controversial matters such as US plans to install missile shields in Europe which is strongly opposed by Moscow.
NATO has about 16,000 troops under its KFOR mission in Kosovo which declared independence from Serbian rule on 17 February. U.S. and many EU countries have recognized Kosovo but Russia has condemned the move as illegal.
The NATO-Ukraine Commission will also meet on Friday.
NATO leaders will attend the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) lunch on Thursday but there is no formal agenda for discussion.
EAPC brings together 49 NATO and Partner countries for dialogue and consultation on political and security-related issues.
Some 50 heads of government and state are expected to attend the summit, including U.S. President George W. Bush.
The Summit will be chaired by the Secretary General of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer while Romanian President, Traian Basescu will host the meetings.