U.S President George W.Bush (R) meets NATO Secretary Jap de Hoop Scheffer during the NATO summit in Bucharest April 2, 2008.
Photo: Reuters
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Washington Doesn’t View Defeat the NATO Rejection of Ukraine, Georgia
The White House won’t take as defeat the NATO refusal to admit Georgia and Ukraine to the MAP in Bucharest, a top-ranked official announced.
"It's not a question of defeat. I think the question will be if the alliance can come together and show that the door remains open," a senior U.S. official said in Bucharest after the NATO leaders failed to agree on admitting Ukraine and Georgia to NATO's Membership Action Plan.
U.S. President George Bush suffered the humiliating diplomatic failure Wednesday, when, led by France and Germany, the allies opposed his effort to grant the MAP to the former Soviet republics, Ukraine and Georgia.
At least seven members of the alliance rejected the proposal of the U.S. president during yesterday’s dinner which lasted two hours longer than expected. Italy, Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg backed up Germany and France in the decision not to speed up the entry of these two nations into NATO.
Today’s concern of the summit is to elaborate a compromise statement, ensuring Georgia and Ukraine that the gateway to NATO remains open for them.
www.kommersant.com
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