Whether five or seven, the Baltics are in

BERLIN - Up to seven new countries, among them the three Baltic states, stand an excellent chance of being invited to join NATO at its Prague summit in November, according to a report in the German daily Berliner Zeitung.

Quoting "informed sources in Brussels," the paper said that no decision had yet been taken by NATO diplomats regarding a major enlargement of the organization. But it is "practically certain" that Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia will be invited to join the alliance.

These five countries would "probably" be joined by Romania and Bulgaria, whose candidacy is keenly supported by Turkey and France.

"Opinions at the heart of the alliance are evolving more and more toward a grand enlargement," the paper quoted one of its sources as saying.

The paper also quoted a high-ranking NATO diplomat, who said that the only question for the United States is whether five or seven countries will be accepted.

The diplomat said that such a wide enlargement of the alliance had been facilitated by the recent close relationship between Washington and Moscow following the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

The previous wave of NATO enlargement was in 1999, when the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, former members of the Soviet Union-led Warsaw Pact, were warmly welcomed into the alliance.