The Bulgarian President Petur Stoyanov opened the conference of the NATO applicant countries on October 5 in Sofia. In his opening speech he said that Bulgaria is ready to bear the responsibility for future NATO membership. `After the fall of the Berlin wall we though that everything bad was already behind us. However, the terrible terrorist act in the United States on September 11 changed our way of thinking and hardly anyone cannot ask calmly the question what`s the point of the existence and the enlargement of the Alliance,` Stoyanov also said. NATO Secretary General George Robertson also delivered a speech before the forum. In it, he said that the terrorist attacks will not slow down the NATO enlargement. He added, that the sharing of the NATO values is very important but is not enough. `Real conditions are necessary for accession,` he said. A speech on behalf of the US President Bush was read at the summit. `US supports the acession of other countries in the NATO alliance. It depends on the internal progress of the countries, though, ` Bush`s speech read. Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg greeted, in English, the participants in the Vilnius Group forum and expressed the hope that small Bulgaria will soon become a full-fledged NATO member. The heads of states and the foreign ministers from the so-called `Vilnius Group discussed the new threat to global security following the September 11 attacks on the United States. After that, they adopted a joint declaration for solidarity in the fight against terrorism. The declaration stated that the applicant countries` express solidarity with the United States and NATO. During a lunch, hosted by the Bulgarian President and Prime Minister, the American political scientist Brzezinski delivered a speech. `We might witness historical enlagement at the NATO summit in Prague,`he said.

Read MORE - today in the FOR THE RECORD section

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!