BALTIC STATES UNQUALIFIED FOR NATO, PERRY QUOTED AS TELLING MOSCOW.

Pavel Felgengauer, military analyst for the Russian daily Segodnya, has quoted U.S. secretary of defense William Perry as saying during an interview that: "The Baltic States are not ready to join NATO. These countries simply do not meet the alliance’s standards, which call for developed democracy, the absence of conflicts with neighbors, market economies, and armed forces capable of operating jointly with NATO." (Segodnya, October 18). In recent weeks, Perry and other U.S. officials jolted the Baltic states by citing some of those rationales for postponing consideration of Baltic admission to NATO. Reinforcing this message in Moscow can feed the perception that it had all along been addressed not only to the Baltic states but also as a political signal to Russia.

Lukashenko Uncompromising.