Let the party begin

Let us be the first to congratulate the Baltic countries on their invitations to join NATO.

Of course Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will have to wait until NATO's summit in Prague in November to officially be asked, but at this point it seems all but settled.

A string of recent events seem to be good reason to put the champagne on ice.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who was in Tallinn last week, said he saw no "shortcomings" in Baltic preparation.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who's touring the three countries this week, seems to already be talking to the Baltics as if they're members.

U.S. President George Bush signed into law on June 10 a bill that endorses expansion and authorizes military aid to seven countries, including the Baltics.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton essentially congratulated the Baltics while speaking in Tallinn this week, saying the three countries have "earned their places in NATO."

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who once was Vladimir Putin's messenger of Russian disdain for NATO expansion, said in Brussels recently that enlargement was NATO's business not Russia's. Russian opposition, no matter what any diplomat says in public, was the greatest obstacle.

So that's it. It's over.

Now the Baltics have to get to work polishing their diplomatic tact. There is still insular thinking here that borders on xenophobia. It was evident at the a press conference in Riga with the Chinese president this week.

Latvian journalists sniggered when Jiang began speaking Chinese. An aide for Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga couldn't get over the fact that she was so much taller than the Chinese journalists.

We doubt any NATO diplomat would be amused.