BBC News Online: World

Rude awakening for Nato's new recruits

	Analysis: Commemoration not celebration
	Rude awakening for new members
	History: Alliance's Cold War roots
	Fast facts: Nato: Who, what, why

The event was said to mark an acknowledgment that the three countries were, by tradition and inclination, part of the West - despite more than four decades of Soviet domination.

Poland's prime minister, Jerzy Buzek, even called it the "real end of the Second World War".

But a month later, Nato is at war - and the response in the three new states has been mixed.

The Czechs are the most ambivalent. A majority of those polled oppose the bombing campaign - although parliament has voted to approve the use of Czech territory to transport Nato troops and materiel in the direction of the Balkans.

The Czech Foreign Minister, Jan Kavan, says Nato should still be prepared to negotiate with President Milosevic.

The Hungarians are worried about the future of the 300,000-strong Hungarian minority in northern Serbia.

Hungary's Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, says his country is not ready to take part in a Nato ground operation in Yugoslavia.

Poland keen

Poland, the largest of the three new Nato members, has been keenest. Opinion polls show a clear majority supporting the bombing campaign - and Poland is expected to offer a battalion of troops in the event of a land campaign.

Poland claims it wants to become "America's major partner in Central Europe" - and is also lobbying, so far unsuccessfully, for neighbouring Lithuania to be brought into Nato, in defiance of Russian opposition.

Poland and Hungary, in particular, badly need Nato to prove itself. Relations with Russia, already cool, appear to have worsened further.

Poland's eastern neighbour, Belarus, has ostentatiously backed the Serbs. Hungary fears future Serb reprisals.

Waiting at the door

For the three failed applicants - Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia - the Yugoslav conflict presents dangers and opportunities.

All three have been saying that their present cooperation with Nato - making air space available and, in Slovakia's case, also allowing the passage of troops and military equipment - entitles them to Nato security guarantees, leading eventually to full membership.

The Washington summit is not expected to issue any new offers of membership.

But if Nato really does want to secure some form of international protectorate in Kosovo, the Balkans as a whole may need to be integrated more closely with the Western alliance.

Internet Links

Nato

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

In this section

Microsoft trial mediator appointed (From Business)
Violence greets Clinton visit
Taxman scoops a million (From Entertainment)
Safety chief deplores crash speculation
Hurricane Lenny abates
Bush calls for 'American internationalism'
EU fraud: a billion dollar bill
Russian forces pound Grozny
Senate passes US budget
Boy held after US school shooting
Cardinal may face loan-shark charges
Sudan power struggle denied
Sharif: I'm innocent
Vodafone takeover battle heats up (From Business)
India's malnutrition 'crisis'
Next steps for peace
Homeless suffer as quake toll rises
Dam builders charged in bribery scandal
Burundi camps 'too dire' to help
DiCaprio film trial begins
Memorial for bonfire dead
Spy allegations bug South Africa
Senate leader's dismissal 'a good omen'
Tamil rebels consolidate gains
New constitution for Venezuela
Hurricane pounds Caribbean
Millennium sect heads for the hills
South African gays take centre stage
Lockerbie trial judges named