BRUSSELS 6-7 March 2008 NATO foreign ministers meet to plan summit

The main task for NATO foreign ministers in March is putting together an agenda for the meeting of the Alliance's leaders in April. The announced focus of the summit is enlargement, but the Alliance's worries about Afghanistan, Kosovo, which has declared its independence from Serbia, and Russia's recent unilateral suspension of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) could move expansion of the body to second place.

Albania, Croatia and Macedonia have joined NATO's membership action plan, the most advanced stage toward NATO membership before formal invitations to join. Georgia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia are in line for NATO Partnership for Peace invitations. Enlargement isn't without its risks for the Alliance. It moves NATO closer to Russia's borders, inviting more belligerence from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Since the foreign ministers met in October on the political and military dimensions of the Alliance's commitments in Kosovo and Afghanistan, Russia has suspended its commitment to the CFE Treaty and Kosovo has declared its independence. Meanwhile, the fight against the insurgent Taliban in Afghanistan has given NATO and its allies their bloodiest year since 2001 in that country.

The Kremlin recently hinted that it may be willing to negotiate rejoining the CFE arms control treaty, signed in Paris on 19 Nov 1990 by the 22 members of NATO and the former Warsaw Pact, holds some potential for being resolved soon. Afghanistan and Kosovo promise to be longer-standing headaches. For one thing, Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia puts NATO on a potential collision course with Serbia -- and possibly Russia. Dec/07

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