A HotNews.ro Interview

Luni, 31 martie 2008, 18:23 English | Top News

Romanian Ambassador to NATO Sorin Ducaru is now in the hottest spot of the Alliance for the moment: in Brussels, where the last details of the agenda of the Bucharest NATO Summit on April 2-4 are being set. He says in an interview for HotNews.ro that while "significant progress" has been made in preliminary talks, many key issues will only be decided by the heads of states and governments during the summit.

Ducaru told HotNews.ro that talks at the NATO HQ in Brussels lasted until late at night over the past several days. In Bucharest, he said, one thing that is to be expected is a political decision to start work at a NATO missile shield, the details of which are expected to claim lasting debates.

He also said that Vladimir Putin's coming to Bucharest is seen by NATO as proof of will to continue the cooperation between Moscow and the Alliance. And he said Romania as a NATO border country has pleaded in favor of enlargement and initiated a working lunch between Allies and their partners in the Balkans and at the Black Sea.

Ducaru said that NATO is now working on a public document regarding its strategic vision which he hoped would be adopted by the NATO leaders. The document, he said, reflected both NATO objectives and of all contributors to the ISAF force in Afghanistan. And it would be accompanied by an internal action plan describing the operational details of the main document.

He said he expected a "summit of suspense" as preparations for it are very consistent, with a very dense and hugely important agenda.