“Today, at the closing of the NATO Summit events in Bucharest, another success story has been written proving how, with hard work, Romania, a “new” country to NATO and the EU, can become a model for all aspirant countries in the region.

I congratulate our colleagues of the Atlantic Council of Romania for their contribution to this successful Summit, and even more so for the successful “Youth Atlanticists Summit”, organized in conjunction to the NATO Summit.

Furthermore, I would like to congratulate our friends in Albania and Croatia, for receiving the official invitation to begin negotiations and join NATO.

The Atlantic Associations of these two countries have worked hard for many years to achieve this goal.

I would like to summon up your memories on the work of the founder of the Albanian Atlantic Association, and later on President of Albania, Dr. Alfred MOISIU, since he thought this goal was vital for his country, and we have worked together on it since 1995.

Also the great work of Professor RadovanVUKADINOVIC, who educated the Croatian people about our transatlantic goals, and he has made an important contribution to this achievement.

To conclude, I would like to take this opportunity and send a clear message to our respected friends of the Atlantic Association of F.Y.R.O.M.

We, members of G.A.A.E.C., as representatives of Civil society, hope that agreement will soon be reached.

As two Atlantic Associations, we have worked closely this last decade. We hope that both of us will strive and urge our governments to continue the process of finding a mutually acceptable solution for the name of the country, within the framework of the United Nations.

We, at G.A.A.E.C., invite our friends to engage in joint initiatives of enlightening our societies so that a mutual agreement is possible and thus create a “win-win” situation for both countries.

In respect to the founders of the Atlantic Association of F.Y.R.O.M. Ambassador Nano RUZIN, the Minister of Defense Lazar ELENOVSKI, the Advisor Alexandar GENCHOV, with who we have much in common, I would like to highlight that we look ahead and expect them to meet us halfway in the process.

We look forward to the day the mutually acceptable solution will be found.”

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