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Good morning.
Mr President, I am very pleased to meet you today. Your country is making a substantial
contribution to NATO-led operations. We are very grateful for all that your troops do
in Afghanistan. And we appreciate your support to lines of communication for KFOR in Kosovo.
And we very much welcome your firm commitment to the NATO accession process. The strong
political and public support for membership in your country is important for NATO. At
our Chicago Summit in May, we made clear that our door remains open to those countries aspiring
to NATO membership and we remain committed to the Western Balkans region.
NATO’s Open Door policy and the enlargement of the European Union have utterly transformed
your region. For all the countries that joined NATO, the accession process has been a motor
for reform and paved the way to reconciliation. It has helped to improve relations with neighbours,
strengthen the rule of law, and increase accountability and transparency.
I welcome your commitment to continuing reforms with determination.
And I strongly hope that a mutually acceptable solution to the name issue can be reached
as soon as possible within the framework of the United Nations. NATO’s position is clear,
and we restated that position in Chicago in May. We have agreed to extend an invitation
for you to start accession negotiations as soon a mutually acceptable solution has been
reached.
Mr. President, certainly the future of the Western Balkans is integration in the Euro-Atlantic
family, where you belong.