NATO secretary general visits Tallinn

TALLINN - NATO Secretary General George Robertson reinforced Estonia's
position as a candidate for full membership of the alliance last week
during a two-day visit here as part of a tour through applicant
countries.

Robertson, who served as Britain's defense secretary in the previous
two years, emphasized that NATO's door is open and called Estonia's bid
"serious and competitive." This is the first official year of the
accession process, called the Membership Action Plan (MAP).

"Countries are coming together in peace in order to show they mean
business about the safety and security for the future," Ro-bertson said
at a press conference. "Estonia plays a significant part in the
partnership of Eastern and West [Europe]."

Estonia has set a goal to be ready to join NATO by 2002 when the
alliance will hold another round of talks aimed at enlargement.

Robertson noted the alliance has been impressed by Estonia's progress
and stressed that joining was not only important for NATO as a whole
but also for Estonia's own security. He also reiterated that Russia,
staunchly opposed to Baltic accession to the alliance, can't block
Estonian membership.

"There is no outside veto extended to other countries," he said.
"External factors will not play a part."

Accession to NATO remains Estonia's main security and defense policy
priority, and it has participated in NATO initiatives since the
restoration of independence. Estonia has defense cooperation agreements
with 17 countries. The government has also committed to increase
defense spending to 2 percent of the GDP by 2002.

The secretary general met with President Lennart Meri, Prime Minister
Mart Laar, Foreign Minister Toomas Ilves and Defense Minister Juri Luik
during his stay.