U.S. Lobbies NATO to Expand.

NATO is expected to issue membership invitations to as many as three Balkan countries this spring in yet another round of enlargement championed by the United States, alliance diplomats said yesterday.

Although no official decision will be made until a few days before a NATO summit in Romania in April, the diplomats spoke of being "bullish," and said a "strong current" was developing in favor of Croatia, Albania and Macedonia. [...]

"There is a great deal of opposition to this idea," said Julianne Smith, director of the European program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. "The question will be asked if these countries are prepared for what NATO is going to ask from them. The alliance we have today demands a great deal."

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