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Still, the members of the Vilnius Groups have misconstrued the signs of the gathering storm: the emerging European rapid deployment force and common foreign policy; the rapprochement between France and Germany at the expense of the pro-American but far less influential Britain, Italy and Spain; the constitutional crisis setting European federalists against traditional nationalists; the growing rupture between "Old Europe" and the American "hyperpower".
Last week, Bulgaria, currently sitting on the Security Council, was one of ten east and southeast European countries known as the Vilnius Group to issue a strongly worded statement in support of the United States' attempt to disarm Iraq by military means.
Following the joint Vilnius Group declaration, Albania, Croatia, Bulgaria and Macedonia received private and public assurances that their NATO applications now stand a better chance. Bulgaria started the second round of negotiations with the military alliance yesterday and expects to become full member next year.
The head of the US Committee on NATO Enlargement Bruce Jackson stated: "I'm sure that Bulgaria has helped itself very much this week." It casts in doubt the wisdom of the Vilnius Group's American gambit. The countries of central and east Europe may admire the United States and its superpower clout but, far more vitally, they depend on Europe, economically as well as politically.
The Euro-Atlantic Divide By: Dr. Sam Vaknin The Czech republic, Hungary and Poland, already NATO members, have joined Spain, Britain and other EU veterans in signing the "letter of eight" in support of US policy in the Gulf. NATO and EU aspirants including most of the nations of the Balkans followed suit in a joint statement of the Vilnius Group.
The Vilnius Ten including Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia called the evidence presented to the Security Council by Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State "compelling". Iraq posed a "clear and present danger" they concluded. Bulgaria and Romania pledged free access to their air spaces and territorial waters.
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