Balkan leaders attending meetings in Washington during the NATO summit have called for a new approach to the region to guarantee not only peace but economic and social development.

The Bulgarian President, Petar Stoyanov, said there should be a special economic programme to help Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania become democracies of prosperity, not poverty.

He also called for NATO to admit these countries as full members. Bulgaria and Romania have repeated their support for the alliance's action against Yugoslavia, but say the war is aggravating their countries economic problems.