NATO Summit Closes With Seven New Members

A sense of relief was evident in Prague as the 19-nation military alliance wrapped up a hectic two days of intense negotiations dealing with some of the trickiest issues in the alliance's history.

On Friday, NATO sought to reassure Russia that the alliance's eastward expansion would pose no danger to it. During the historic summit, seven new members from the former communist Eastern Europe were approved by NATO after marathon negotiations in the country that for years lay behind the Iron Curtain. It said the former enemies were now allies facing a common threat.

To drive home that point, United States President George W. Bush is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg later in the day to discuss Iraq and others issues dealing with NATO expansion, including the war on terrorism.

Germany and France not toeing the U.S. line on Iraq

Earlier, the 19 NATO allies issued a statement firmly backing the U.S.-led effort to disarm Iraq and ensure that Saddam Hussein (photo) complied with U.N. resolutions to give up weapons of mass destruction. The statement, however, fell far short of committing NATO assets or forces to a U.S.-led military invasion.

In particular, France and Germany distanced themselves from some aspects of U.S. policy.

French President Jacques Chirac minced no words as he insisted at the summit that the UN should have the final say on Iraq. "When the weapons inspectors report to the Security Council in detail about all forms of abuse (of Iraqi commitments), then the Council will draw consequences from it," he said. "Then all options are open."

Schröder sticks to his guns

Thursday’s summit brought together German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President Bush for the first time since Bush's visit to Berlin in May. German-American relations plunged to an all-time low following Schröder’s unequivocal "no" to a war on Iraq during his September re-election campaign.

Though much was made of the handshake between Schröder and Bush on Thursday, and of their sharing a laugh together at the summit, the air between the two leaders could at best be described as coolly cordial.

"I made clear to Bush that there was never any question of calling his personal integrity into question," Schröder said. For his part, Bush remained matter of fact. "Germany is an important friend of the United States. We’ve got a relationship to maintain. We will maintain it," he said.

Schröder stuck to his line that German troops would not be a part of any military action in Iraq. However, he did signal that Germany was likely to accept U.S. requests for overflight rights and use of bases in Germany for any war.

Before the NATO summit got underway, the United States had written to about 50 countries, including Germany, to request concrete support in the case of a military attack against Iraq.

Though Germany has ruled out the use of its troops, its language regarding the U.S. request for help remains ambiguous. On the sidelines of the summit, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said the formal U.S. request would be "carefully studied." "Concrete questions must be answered as they arise," he said.

19 become 26

The differences of opinion over Iraq threatened to ruffle feathers at the summit, little could overshadow the significance of its grand accomplishment. The conference paved the way for former Warsaw pact countries including Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia to join the alliance, thus erasing political and economic divides that have scarred Europe for a half-century. They are expected to join in 2004, bringing to an end criticism that NATO remains a Cold War relic.

Separately, the alliance also approved sweeping reforms including the creation of a NATO response force. The Europe-led troops, which are to become operational in two years, would be made up of special forces from a handful of allied countries and could be deployed within three days to trouble spots around the world.

The alliance also secured commitment from nine members to increase defense spending substantially and 408 "firm and specific political commitments" from all 19 members to develop new capabilities where there are considerable deficiencies.