President Stjepan Mesic on Wednesday received a personal message from NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson in which Robertson stresses that Croatia needs to implement an entire series of reforms to be considered a qualified candidate for NATO. Recalling an open discussion with the Croatian President at the "Conference on Regional Stability and Co-operation" in Zagreb in early July, Robertson once again stressed that Croatia's accession to the Membership Action Plan (MAP) was an important step in developing relations between Croatia and NATO.

However, Robertson said he must once again emphasise that Croatia must now act in implementing an entire spectre of reforms required to make it a good quality NATO candidate in the future, Lord Robertson said in his message to President Mesic. The allies will carefully monitor Croatia's progress and your personal contribution to that process is immeasurable, Robertson said. NATO's secretary-general concludes his message to President Mesic stating that the doors of NATO will remain open after the Prague Summit and that it was up to Croatia to undertake the necessary measures to be able to pass through those doors successfully. The NATO Summit will be held in November this year in Prague and as announced invitations for membership to the Alliance could be handed out at the summit.

(NewsBase 09.viii.02)