TALLINN, Mar 05, BNS - Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet will participate in a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday that will deal with preparations for the NATO summit to be held in Bucharest from April 2-4.
The foreign ministers will discuss further NATO enlargement and partnership relations with Georgia and Ukraine. Other topics will include issues related to Kosovo as well as NATO-EU cooperation in operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo.
Talking about further NATO enlargement, the Estonian foreign minister said through spokespeople that if candidate countries Croatia, Macedonia and Albania continue making the necessary reforms at their current pace, Estonia supports issuing an invitation for accession to each of them during the Bucharest summit.
"We also support further Euro-Atlantic integration of Georgia and Ukraine," Paet said. "Both partners could receive a Membership Action Plan (MAP) during this year," he added.
Paet said he believes that NATO and other international organizations must clearly define their roles in building up Afghanistan.
"The European Union's contribution to rebuilding Afghanistan should increase as well," Paet said.
Paet will participate in a meeting of the Friends of Georgia group in Brussels on the evening of March 5. The Estonian minister has a meeting scheduled with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan for Thursday, March 6.
Tallinn newsroom, +372 610 8861, sise@bns.ee
