Political Quotes

“today I will deliver the first in a series of statements on the theme of NATO enlargement. In the next 4 months leading up to the Madrid Summit in July, I will examine the rationale for NATO's admitting new members, which countries appear to be leading candidates for admittance to the alliance, how NATO and Russia can define a new relationship, the responsibilities of our European allies in the process, and how to share the costs of enlargement fairly. Mr. President, as many of our colleagues are aware, the distinguished foreign Minister of the Republic of Hungary, Laszlo Kovacs is in Washington this week for a series of meetings. I would like to take the occasion of the foreign Minister's visit to note the progress that Hungary has made toward meeting the criteria for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and to thank his government for the assistance it has provided to our forces involved in the Bosnia mission. Mr. President, the foreign Ministers from the 16 NATO members will meet in Madrid in early July to decide which Central European democracies should be invited to begin accession negotiations with the Alliance.”