Albania and Croatia are the newest members of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). The eastern European nations became the 27th and 28th member countries of the multinational organization on April 1.
With Slovenia’s last minute deposit of the instrument of ratification on behalf of Croatia, the ratification process of all NATO members is considered finished. NATO’s Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, sent a formal invitation to both countries. Croatia’s accession had been threatened due to a border dispute with its neighbor country Slovenia.
Following the two countries’ depositing the necessary ratification documents on April 1, they will sit as NATO members at the 60th anniversary summit on April 4 in Strasbourg, France. This expansion is a symbolic gesture of inclusion into an area formerly ruled by communism, and with which NATO member nations were at war.
According to the local Albanian media, the capital of the country, Tirana, is decorated in blue NATO banners. A local media organization, Shekulli, states that the Albanian government considers joining NATO one of the most important events in the country’s history.
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