DECLARATION

DECLARATION DECLARATION on Enlargement of NATO The Baltic Assembly, recognising the contribution that NATO has made to keeping of peace and ensuring stability over fifty years; emphasising the importance of the adoption of a new strategic concept of NATO at the Washington Summit in 1999, and the need to define the enlargement of NATO as an inseparable part of the new strategic concept as the Alliance enters the 21st century; pointing out that the military collaboration of the Baltic states, their contribution to the peace-keeping operations carried out by NATO and the defence potential of the Baltic states are constantly increasing; welcomes the Foreign Relations Authorization Act No. 1757 adopted by the House of Representatives of the United States Congress on 21 October 1998, which emphasises that the membership of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in NATO would contribute significantly to the implementation of the objectives of the Alliance and would enhance stability, freedom and peace in Europe; declares that Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia unswervingly strive for the full membership of NATO; calls upon the parliaments of NATO Member States to express their wish that a decision be made during the NATO Washington Summit to further the NATO enlargement process; stresses that with the enlargement of the Alliance, it would be advisable to maintain the North and South balance as was stated in the NATO’s Madrid decisions; states that the next round of NATO enlargement should involve inclusion of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Tallinn, November 28, 1998