By Paul Taylor and Matt Spetalnick
BUCHAREST, April 3 (Reuters) - NATO leaders will seek ways
to console Ukraine and Georgia at a summit on Thursday after
failing to agree to open the door of the Western military
alliance to the former Soviet republics.
The 26 leaders will also face concerns about stability in
the Balkans after Greece blocked an invitation to Macedonia to
join NATO due to a row over the former Yugoslav republic's name.
The double setback for U.S. President George W. Bush on the
first day of his final NATO summit overshadowed agreement to
invite two other Balkan countries -- Croatia and Albania -- to
join the 26-nation defence alliance, and progress on extra
troops for Afghanistan.
"It's not a question of defeat. I think the question will be
if the alliance can come together and show that the door remains
open," a senior U.S. official said after the leaders failed to
reach consensus on admitting Ukraine and Georgia to NATO's
Membership Action Plan -- a gateway to eventual entry.
Germany and France had led opposition to the move, saying it
was premature when public support for NATO was barely 30 percent
in Ukraine and Georgia did not control all its territory due to
frozen conflicts with Russian-backed separatists.
NATO spokesman James Appathurai played down any impression
that Russia had succeeded in blocking the decision, saying the
allies were united in rejecting any outside veto or influence.
However, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili warned
earlier in the week that a rebuff for his country would amount
to "appeasement" of Russia and embolden hardliners to make
mischief in two breakaway Georgian regions.
GOOD NEWS
While France combined to deflect Bush's drive to extend the
eastern borders of NATO right up to Russia's frontiers, it did
deliver a boost for the alliance in its most challenging
security mission in Afghanistan.
Appathurai said President Nicolas Sarkozy offered up to
1,000 extra French troops for the east of the country, enabling
the United States to redeploy forces to the south, scene of the
fiercest fighting with Taliban insurgents.
That in turn appeared to meet Canada's parliamentary
conditions to keep troops in Afghanistan, where they have
suffered heavy casualties at the hands of Islamist guerrillas.
"This is good news for Canada and good news for NATO,"
Sandra Buckler, spokeswoman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper,
said in regard to the French and American troop commitments.
She would not, however, confirm that this definitively meets
Canada's self-imposed requirements of 1,000 extra troops.
Appathurai said the leaders agreed both Ukraine and Georgia
were entitled to apply to join NATO and that it was "not a
matter of whether but of when". But he said he did not expect
either to be granted a Membership Action Plan (MAP) this week.
That left the sensitive question of what consolation prize
to give the two aspirants when their disappointed leaders join
the NATO summiteers at lunch on Thursday.
Bush had strongly urged sceptical European allies earlier to
reward both countries for their democratic revolutions and not
to allow Moscow a veto over NATO decisions.
On the other enlargement issue, Spanish Foreign Minister
Miguel Angel Moratinos told reporters: "For the moment, Greece
is not in a position to agree to the entry of Macedonia, and it
will be Croatia and Albania first."
Athens threatened to veto Skopje's entry over an unresolved
dispute about the former Yugoslav republic's name, which is the
same as the most northerly Greek province.
Analysts have said a rebuff for Macedonia could destabilise
the ethnically divided state with knock-on regional effects.
(Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
