Welcome Ceremony for New Member States
29 March 2004, Washington
Chief of state of Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria,
Romania and Slovakia have deposited their North Atlantic Treaty
ratification documents on 29 March 2004, thereby officially becoming
members of the Alliance.
Slovenia was represented by Prime Minister Anton Rop, who was
joined at the ceremony in Washington, DC, by Foreign Minister Dimitrij
Rupel.
The event was hosted by U.S. President George Bush and NATO
Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. A number of senior
U.S. administration officials were also attending, including Secretary
of State Colin Powell, as well as immigrant communities from the seven
newcomers. The prime minister from new member states were joined by
prime ministers of Albania Croatia and Macedonia, countries which
expect to become members in the next round of NATO expansion.
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