albanians proud, croats cool on joining nato - outside projector

TIRANA/ZAGREB (Reuters)-
A huge clock on the tallest building in Tirana is counting down until the former Stalinist state joins the former one --
Hate NATO this week.
As one of the poorest countries in Europe, amonghuai is proud and hopes to join the alliance with the Adriatic country Croatia at a NATO summit jointly hosted by France and Germany on Friday and Saturday.
The government and parliament buildings have been decorated by the flag of NATO members, and concerts on the streets have been arranged.
Every night, a projector outside the office of Prime Minister Surrey berrisha flashes the NATO symbol across the street, pointing to an office that used to be a communist dictator, Enville Hocha.
"NATO is a very positive thing.
It will protect our national security and foreigners who want to invest will know that it is safe here, "said Ilir, 30, a waiter in the tribal mining town of Prrenjas.
Croatia is hardly taken for granted without such noise, and the real benefit is that joining the EU is still more elusive.
Since Afghanistan applied to join NATO in 1992, the support rate of NATO members has steadily increased to 96%. S. -
On 1999, the Serbian police and army ceased their offensive against Kosovo Serbs.
Under the protection of NATO, Kosovo Serbs who fled to Afghanistan were able to return home, and NATO forces have remained in Kosovo for many years to maintain security. N. administration.
By contrast, NATO was in a wait-and-see state in the battle between 1990 generations of Croatia and Serbia, as Yugoslavia collapsed.
Analysts say the ruling Democratic Party in berrisha hyped NATO ahead of the June 28 election, and the EU will keep a close eye on signs of progress in the election.
Observers say Afghanistan has never held a truly free and fair election, which is important for the progress of the EU.
"The problem with this campaign is that it is trying to be a front office for entry into the EU on behalf of NATO member states, almost as good as entering the EU," said columnist, former dissident Fatos luboña.
"This is not the case, as the Europeans insist on showing us, but rather our politicians pretend to be ignorant.
"Afghanistan has a related agreement with the EU and has not yet applied for membership.
Croatia is in the lead, and if it resolves its border dispute with Slovakia and blocks access to talks, it wants to join in 2011.
The two countries already have troops on NATO.
Overseas missions, including Afghanistan and Iraq.
Zoran Kusovac, a Balkan strategy analyst, said the expansion had little practical impact on new members or alliances, although it was a welcome security barrier for the region, but it still felt the consequences of the 1990 s ethnic war.
"Neither Croatia nor Afghanistan has the geopolitical strategic importance of NATO and is not considered part of the scope of Russian interests.
"NATO is expanding into what it considers its own territory with inertia," he said . ".
It is therefore not surprising that Croatia does not have any celebrations or even any formal ones. Even anti-
Last week, when parliament approved NATO membership, both globalists and NATO opponents were missing, Croatia's biggest international achievement since independence in 1991.
"NATO is much more symbolic than it is.
But important work has been done and becoming a member is a sign that a country meets certain standards, "said Kusovac.