Havel: Russia Shouldn't Fear NATO

Havel: Russia Shouldn't Fear NATO

By ANDREA LORINCZOVA, Associated Press Writer

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) - Russia has nothing to fear from an expanded NATO (news - web sites) bringing former communist countries into the Western military alliance, Czech President Vaclav Havel said Friday.

Speaking to the leaders of 10 nations seeking membership in NATO, Havel said ``Russia must finally realize that NATO's mission poses no threat to it.''

``If NATO moves closer to Russia's borders, it brings closer stability, security, democracy and an advanced political culture, which is obviously in Russia's essential interest,'' he said.

The Czech Republic, along with Hungary and Poland, were the first former communist countries to join NATO, in 1999. Their example, and the promise of greater security and stability, has inspired others in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics to follow.

Russia has fiercely opposed any expansion of the alliance, calling it a security threat.

The Russian Embassy in Bratislava, host of the three-day conference, issued a statement Friday calling NATO's expansion plans ``a grave mistake provoking negative changes of the military-strategic landscape and division lines in Europe. Without democratic Russia, Europe cannot be whole and free.''

Ignoring Moscow's objections, the three-day conference produced a so-called ``Bratislava Declaration,'' calling for speeded-up efforts to enlarge NATO and promote the candidate countries' visions for Europe and the future of the alliance.

``The Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact are gone ... Russia has failed to understand that,'' Havel said. But he cautioned former communist countries that ``Russia does not deserve that we behave toward it as we would toward a leper or an invalid.''

Slovak Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda said non-NATO members already have shown they can contribute to the alliance. He cited Romania and Bulgaria, which allowed NATO forces to fly over their territory during the 1999 Kosovo crisis despite opposition from their citizens.

The two countries represent ``solid rocks in the rather turbulent environment of southeastern Europe,'' Dzurinda said in an address calling for further NATO enlargement as early as next year.

Dzurinda was joined by the prime ministers of Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia and Croatia, as well as the deputy prime ministers of Albania and Macedonia.

``If we want Europe to be whole and free ... new democracies must be given a possibility to participate,'' said Mart Laar, Estonia's prime minister.