Joint pledge for NATO membership

Lord Robertson spent three days in the north of Europe meeting with the Heads of State and government and the Foreign and Defence Ministers of Finland, Estonia and Lithuania. He travelled to Helsinki on 17, to Tallinn on 18 and to Vilnius the next day.

During his visit to Lithuania, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs from the nine countries aspiring for NATO membership - Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ¹- ) made a joint pledge to prepare and apply for membership together. Lord Robertson stated that decisions on the next wave of enlargement would not be made before the next NATO Summit in 2002.

1. Turkey recognises the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.