[PEN-L:6723] NATO Expansion

[SHAWGI TELL <v600a8e6@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry assured his Baltic
counterparts in a letter dated October 3, that they are "fully
eligible" for NATO membership. Perry apparently wanted to assure
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that the United States would assist
them in every way to upgrade their militaries to NATO standards. He
also emphasized that they should not cave in to Russian pressure
forbidding their inclusion in NATO. Perry wrote with particular
reference to Russia: "In particular I reject - and the U.S. rejects
-  any idea that the Baltic countries are excluded a priori or that
any non-NATO country has a veto over their aspirations  - whether
de jure or de facto."


Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
V600A8E6@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx