BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

12/03/2009

NATO should include Ukraine, Belarus - Havel

Prague - NATO should include Ukraine and Belarus in future, former Czech president Vaclav Havel told Czech Radio (CRo), shortly before attending the conference on 10 years after NATO enlargement organised in Prague.

The Czech Republic joined NATO along with Hungary and Poland 10 years ago, on March 12, 1999.

Havel said the country's accession to NATO was a result of a long process because the Alliance was unsure whether to offer membership to countries that had been part of the Warsaw Pact.

Havel told CRo that NATO enlargement should have its limits.

"The alliance is defined both by common values and geographically, it cannot extend forever," he said.

Havel said he believed that NATO should end at the Belarussian-Russian border or the Ukrainian-Russian border.

He expressed hope that the dictatorship in Belarus and confusion in Ukraine would end and both countries became NATO members.

According to him, a new security system should be formed in the Caucasian region, including Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia that would guarantee independence to one another.

Havel indicated that he clearly prefers non-violent solutions to conflicts.

"It would be good if the alliance did not have to use force anywhere, but, unfortunately, this will probably never happen," he said.

Source:

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/nato-should-include-ukraine-belarus-havel/365184

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