NATO meets with candidate states

Robertson is heading the enlargement talks

REYKJAVIK, Iceland -- NATO foreign ministers are meeting with officials from 10 Eastern European countries seeking to join the alliance.

The Wednesday meeting is taking place at the end of an historic two-day NATO summit in Iceland.

On Tuesday, old Cold War divisions were swept away with a milestone agreement between Russia and NATO to establish a council to combat common security threats.

The new Russia-NATO council will address counterterrorism, arms control, weapons of mass destruction, crisis management, peacekeeping, maritime safety and civil emergencies.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov called it "a radically new step in our relationship."

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It came a day after Washington and Moscow announced an agreement to slash their remaining strategic nuclear arsenals by two-thirds, and on the same day as the U.N. Security Council, ending an 18-month standoff between Russia and the West, adopted a major overhaul of sanctions against Iraq.

"These are the final rites of the funeral of the Cold War, with Russia as a friend and ally and no longer as an enemy," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.

"The Cold War is finished. Done. Kaput."

"This initiative is quite simply historic, and even revolutionary," said NATO Secretary-General George Robertson as he opened the NATO meeting.

"Together, the countries that spent four decades glowering at each other across the wall of hatred and fear now have the opportunity to transform Euro-Atlantic security for the better."

The final day of the ministerial meeting in Iceland brought together officials from 46 nations, many from the old Soviet sphere of influence, to assess closer cooperation in the face of common challenges such as international terrorism.

Prime candidates to join NATO include the Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, all of which have borders with Russia.

Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria also are expected to get the go-ahead at a NATO summit in Prague in November.

"North America, Europe and countries of Central Asia are now part of a political community that is unprecedented in its breadth, in its inclusiveness, and in its capacity to work together," Robertson said on Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had a separate meeting with officials from the 10 candidate nations early Wednesday.

Ministers agreed to make Croatia an official candidate for NATO membership, although it will not be invited to join in November when up to nine longer-standing Central and Eastern European aspirants hope to get an invitation.

Other longer-term NATO candidates include Albania and Macedonia.

Albania's history of instability makes it unlikely to be accepted anytime soon. Macedonia has been plagued by ethnic violence, and NATO peacekeepers are deployed there.