“GUAM” COUNTRIES CONTRADICT MOSCOW ON NATO’S ENLARGEMENT.

In a special address to the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) yesterday, the GUAM group of countries–Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova–congratulated the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland on their admission to NATO. Terming the Atlantic alliance a source of stability and security, the GUAM countries specifically endorsed the sovereign right of ex-Warsaw Pact countries (the former Soviet-led bloc) to choose for themselves the optimal ways of providing for their security. The GUAM countries expressed the hope that NATO would continue the “open door” policy and develop cooperation with partner countries which currently are not NATO members–a thinly veiled reference to the GUAM countries themselves (Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry press release, March 18). Their position is a stark contrast to Russia’s hostile attitude toward NATO’s enlargement. Before GUAM’s collective statement, Ukraine and Georgia had welcomed the three ex-satellite countries’ accession to NATO (see the Monitor, March 22; see also South Caucasus story), while Azerbaijan became the first of the newly independent countries to offer to host troops of NATO countries.

LATVIAN SECURITY CHIEF EMBARRASSES POLITICAL PROTECTORS.