War Boosts NATO Hopes Of 2 Nations

By Peter Finn

BUCHAREST, Romania, March 25 -- The post-Sept. 11 strategic importance
of the Black Sea region, which has served as a staging area for the
Afghan war and could be used in an attack on Iraq, has catapulted
Romania and Bulgaria INTO serious consideration for membership in NATO,
according to U.S., NATO and East European diplomats.

The two countries are getting favorable consideration despite
long-standing concerns in Western capitals about whether they are
serious about democratic reform, military readiness and efforts to fight
corruption.

With four or five other post-Communist countries all but certain to
receive invitations to join the alliance at a summit in Prague in
November, NATO is on the threshold of its largest expansion ever.

Determined to be on that list, Bulgaria and Romania are working closely
with the United States in the campaign in Afghanistan to SHOW how
valuable they can be as military partners. The two countries "are making
the best use of this tragic opportunity," the Bulgarian foreign
minister, Solomon Pasi, said in an interview here in the Romanian
capital.

In November and December, U.S. tanker aircraft based in Bulgaria flew
about six missions a day to refuel warplanes in the Afghan theater,
according to U.S. and Bulgarian officials. A Bulgarian military airport
in the Black Sea is now a de facto U.S. base with about 200 Americans
stationed there.

Both countries have also opened their airspace unconditionally and
offered the use of all land and port facilities. Twenty U.S. military
flights to or FROM Afghanistan cross Romania each day, officials here
said.

Bulgarian and Romanian troops are serving as peacekeepers in Kabul and
the Romanian government has offered a specialized mountain unit for
service in Afghanistan. The two countries have each tripled their
presence in international peacekeeping missions in the Balkans to free
up allied troops for Afghanistan. And a Romanian military facility in
the Black Sea city of Constanza is about to become a staging ground for
U.S. troops rotating in and out of the Balkans and possibly other
theaters, officials said.

"September 11 transformed the Black Sea INTO a natural springboard,"
said the Romanian foreign minister, Mircea Geoana.

And in the rush to impress the Bush administration, viewed as the
critical voice in determining the final list of countries invited to
join NATO, Romania and Bulgaria are refurbishing airstrips and ports
with the implicit promise that if the United States wishes to use them
in future campaigns, including possible strikes against Iraq, they are
available for the asking.

"The next time when [the United States] asks for support, or needs
support, Bulgaria will be an excellent ally," Pasi said when asked about
Iraq. Romanian officials echoed his comments.

With Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other countries hosting U.S. military
bases wary of a possible attack on Iraq, the offers have not gone
unnoticed in Washington, diplomats said.

U.S. officials continue to say that for the two countries to secure an
invitation to join NATO and jettison their image as regional laggards,
they must speed political reforms, particularly regarding endemic
corruption. The United States and NATO have specifically cited the
countries' treatment of minorities, notably the Roma people, also known
as gypsies.

In Romania, NATO officials have objected to the erection of statues to
commemorate a World War II fascist figure. Romanian officials have
pledged to pass legislation allowing them to pull all the statues down.

The United States had been particularly concerned that the countries'
military spending is low and that their armed forces cannot
"inter-operate" with NATO's. Both countries have boosted their military
budgets above 2 percent of their gross domestic products in an effort to
accelerate the restructuring process and modernize equipment. At the
same time, Romania is slashing the ranks of its top-heavy military and
moving to create a professional, non-conscript army by the end of the
decade, officials said.

"I'm here to encourage both countries to sprint to the finish line,"
said Richard L. Armitage, U.S. deputy secretary of state, whose
appearance at a summit here today of 10 aspiring NATO countries
underlines the seriousness of the Romanian and Bulgarian claims on
membership. "The U.S. wants the widest possible and most robust
accession."

U.S. and NATO officials appear to have agreed that Slovenia and the
three Baltic states -- Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia -- will get
invitations. A fifth country, Slovakia, also will be invited if a former
authoritarian leader, Vladimir Meciar, is not returned to power in fall
elections.

Albania, Croatia and Macedonia, also in attendance at the summit, are
not regarded as viable candidates.

But the possibility of seven countries joining NATO, following the 1999
accession of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, is a significant
turnaround FROM just nine months ago. "The big bang is real," said one
diplomat FROM a NATO country. "And I couldn't have imagined it possible
because I couldn't imagine September 11."

Russia's role in the anti-terrorism coalition has led it to redefine its
relationship with NATO and DROP many objections to membership for the
Baltic nations, which would become the first former members of the
Soviet Union to be added to the Western alliance.

In an unlikely coalition, Turkey and Greece have united behind the
candidacies of Romania and Bulgaria, arguing that expansion in the
alliance's south is critical for security reasons because of
transnational crime and continued instability in places such as
Macedonia.

"There was a lack of dialogue between Greece and Turkey," said Turkish
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. But now "we have interests -- the
preservation of the stability of the region." NATO expansion, he said,
cannot be limited to northern and central Europe.

The foreign ministers of the four southern countries are planning a
joint trip to Washington to press the case of Romania and Bulgaria.

The region remains a corridor for trafficking in weapons, drugs,
cigarettes, illegal migrants and women sold INTO sexual slavery. And the
level of criminality has been facilitated by rampant corruption, U.S.
and NATO officials said.