DATE=03/18/99 TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP NUMBER=6-11198 TITLE=N A T O GETS THREE NEW MEMBERS BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE TELEPHONE=619-3335 DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS CONTENT= INTRO: HISTORY WAS MADE AT INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI, RECENTLY WHEN THE LEADERS OF POLAND, HUNGARY AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC SIGNED PAPERS FORMALLY JOINING THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION - - N A T O. THE EXPANSION WAS A MAJOR TOPIC OF EDITORIAL COMMENT IN PAPERS AROUND THE GLOBE, AND WE GET A SAMPLING NOW FROM _________________ IN THIS WEEK'S WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP. TEXT: THE CEREMONY WAS HELD AT THE HARY S. TRUMAN LIBRARY IN THE SMALL MISSOURI CITY BECAUSE IT WAS PRESIDENT TRUMAN WHO LED THE MOVE TO CREATE THE ALLIANCE JUST 50 YEARS AGO TO CONTAIN THE SOVIET MILITARY THREAT. THE SUBJECT OF EXPANDING NATO HAS BEEN A MUCH-DEBATED TOPIC IN MANY COUNTRIES, BUT SOME U-S PAPERS FEEL IT WAS NOT DEBATED AS MUCH AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN, IN THIS COUNTRY. NOW IT IS A FACT OF LIFE, THE THREE FORMER MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNIST ALLIANCE, THE WARSAW PACT, ARE NOW MEMBERS IN FULL OF NATO. AND AROUND THE GLOBE, THE WORLD'S PRESS IS TAKING NOTE OF THE CHANGE. PAPERS IN THE THREE NEWEST MEMBERS WERE UNIFORMLY PLEASED, WHILE SOME OTHER WERE SKEPTICAL, GIVEN NATO'S CURRENT PROBLEMS IN DEALING WITH THE VIOLENCE IN YUGOSLAVIA'S KOSOVO PROVINCE. WE BEGIN OUR SAMPLING IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, WHERE IN PRAGUE, "PRAVO" CHORTLED: VOICE: WE HARDLY CAN DOUBT THAT IN THE PROCESS OF ACCESSION OF THESE THREE COUNTRIES, THE WESTERN FEELINGS OF GUILT TOWARD THESE COUNTRIES PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART. IT WAS MUNICH FOR THE CZECHS, PLAIN PROMISES TO THE POLISH IN 1939 AND IRRESPONSIBLE AMERICAN PROMISES TO HUNGARIANS AT THE TIME OF THEIR NATIONAL UPRISING IN 1956 ... THE POLISH PRESIDENT ... ALEXANDER KWASNIEWSKI ... COULD NOT HAVE CHARACTERIZED IT BETTER. ... 'WE ARE AT HOME!' TEXT: ACROSS THE CITY, "LIDOVE NOVINY" SUGGESTED: VOICE: THROUGH THIS ACT, OUR COUNTRY AND OUR FREEDOM GET MAXIMUM SECURITY GUARANTEES ... WE RECEIVED FREEDOM AND SECURITY AS A GIFT RATHER THAN FOR OUR MERITS. NOW, IT WILL BE ENTIRELY UP TO US HOW WE'LL DEAL WITH THESE ASSETS ... THE DAYS TO COME ARE FOR WORK. TODAY IS FOR CELEBRATION. TEXT: NEXT DOOR, IN HUNGARY, THE BUDAPEST PRESS IS ALSO FILLED WITH REACTION. "MAGYAR NEMZET" SAYS IN PART: VOICE: AFTER SO MUCH SUFFERING AND VICISSITUDE, FROM NOW ON, THE HUNGARIAN PEOPLE ONCE AGAIN BELONG TO THE PART OF THE WORLD WHOSE VALUES THEY HAVE ALWAYS CLAIMED TO BE THEIR OWN. TEXT: AND IN THE BUSINESS DAILY "VILAGGAZDASAG" THERE WAS THIS OBSERVATION: VOICE: HUNGARY HAS BEEN EXTREMELY FORTUNATE TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THE FIRST WAVE OF NATO'S EASTWARD EXPANSION. FIRST, BECAUSE WHO KNOWS IF THERE WILL EVER BE A SECOND WAVE. SECOND, BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE COUNTRY BELONGS TO AN ALLIANCE WHICH IS TRULY A DEFENSE COMMUNITY, DOES NOT USE PRESSURE AND DOES NOT FOLLOW IDEOLOGICAL GOALS. TEXT: TO POLAND, NOW, AND THE VIEW FROM WARSAW, WHERE IN "ZYCIE WARSZAWY" READERS READ: VOICE: [RUSSIA'S POLITICIANS SAY THAT ] NATO ENLARGEMENT IS A 'HISTORIC MISTAKE.' ... RUSSIAN PLITICIANS CANNOT STOP THINKING IN TERMS OF IMPERIAL AMBITIONS. IF THEY CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THE WORLD THIS WAY, THEN NATO CAN BE REALLY PERCEIVED AS A THREAT BECAUSE THE NATO TREATY WILL NOT ALLOW RUSSIA TO REBUILD ITS LOST EMPIRE AND RESTORE ITS ZONES OF INFLUENCE. TEXT: ACROSS TOWN, IN "RZECZPOSPOLITA" THE EXPANSION WAS GREETED WITH THESE THOUGHTS. VOICE: NATO IS A GUARANTOR OF STABILITY AND NORMAL DEVELOPMENT FOR ITS MEMBER COUNTRIES, BUT IT ALSO BRINGS THE OFFER OF RECONCILIATION AND COOPERATION OT ITS NEW NEIGHBORS. POLAND MUST REMEMBER THIS MISSION. ... TO MEET NATO STANDARDD WILL NOT BE EASY ... BUT ONCE THE OBSTACLES ARE OVERCOME, POLAND WILL BECOME MORE COHESIVE INTERNALLY AND MORE CREDIBLE EXTERNALLY ... TEXT: TURNING TO THE EUROPEAN NEIGHBORS OF THE THREE NEWEST NATO MEMBERS, WE READ A SOMEWHAT LESS EUPHORIC APPRAISAL IN LONDON'S "GUARDIAN." VOICE: THE DECISION TO ACCELERATE THE MEMBERSHIP PROCESS SO THEY COULD ATTEND NEXT MONTH'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY NATO SUMMIT INW ASHINGTON WAS A POLITICAL ONE. THE THREE NEW MEMBERS HAVE ONLY A LIMITED CAPACITY TO SUSTAIN THE AMBITIOUS NEW ROLE WHICH NATO PLANS TO ADOPT. TEXT: HOWEVER IN "THE DAILY TELEGRAPH" THE ASSESSMENT WAS WARMER. VOICE: WE WELCOME WHOLEHEARTEDLY THE ACCESSION OF THE CZECHS, HUNGARIANS AND POLES ... THE COLLAPSE OF DICTATORSHIP IN EAST EUROPE WAS A VICTORY FOR DEMOCRACY, INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY AND THE RULE OF LAW, VALUES ENSHRINED IN THE PREAMBLE TO THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY. ... TO HAVE DENIED THEM ACCESS TO THE TWO BRUSSELS-BASED INSTITUTIONS WOULD HAVE BEEN CRUEL BETRAYAL OF THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH WESTERN POLICY WAS BASED. TEXT: AND WHAT OF FRENCH REACTION. FROM PARIS, "LE FIGARO" WRITES: VOICE: THE SITE CHOSEN FOR THE CEREMONY IS HIGHLY SYMBOLIC GEOGRAPHICALLY: IT IS IN THE UNITED STATES, AND NOT WHERE THE ALLIANCE HAS ITS HEADQUARTERS. .. THE THREE NEWLY ELECTED MEMBERS ARE ALSO IN THE RANKS TO BECOME PART OF THE E-U [EUROPEAN UNION.] BUT AS A SIGN THAT U-S HEGEMONY IS ALIVE AND WELL, THOSE WHO WANT TO BECOME PART OF THE EUROPEAN FAMILY NEED FIRST TO BE VETTED, SECURITY-WISE, BY THE UNITED STATES. TEXT: TURNING TO GERMANY, IN THE EMERGING CAPITAL OF BERLIN, "DIE TAGESZEITUNG" RAN THIS COMMENTARY: VOICE: HOPES THAT THE HISTORIC ACT OF THE ACCEPTANCE OF EASTERN EUROPEAN NATIONS WOULD OUTSHINE THE PROBLEMS IN KOSOVO, AT LEAST UNTIL AFTER THE NATO SUMMIT IN WASHINGTON, WILL NOT COME TRUE. ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT DEVELOPMENTS IN KOSOVO WILL CREATE THE MOST SERIOUS PROBLEMS FOR NATO IN ITS HISTORY. IN ADDITION, THERE ARE CONSIDERABLE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION REGARDING BOTH NATO'S FUTURE STRATEGY AND THE ACCEPTANCE OF NEW MEMBERS . TEXT : FROM RUSSIA, THE OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT VOICE, ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA WROTE : VOICE: WE ARE NOT GOING TO DRAMATIZE THIS EVENT AND SEE IT AS WAR-MONGERING.... WE MAINTAIN CORRECT WORKING RELATIONS WITH BRUSSELLS ... THE FOUNDING ACT, SIGNED BY RUSSIA AND NATO HAS A CONSIDERABLE POTENTIAL FOR COOPERATION, SO USING IT EFFECTIVELY WILL HELP EVEN OUT RELATIONS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND NATO AND BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES. TEXT : AND JAPAN'S LIBERAL TOKYO SHIMBUN HAS EXPRESSED ITS CONCERN OVER THE ROLE OF RUSSIA IN THE NEW NATO : VOICE: EUROPEAN NATIONS BELIEVE EUROPEAN SECURITY CANNOT BE ENSURED WITHOUT PAYING DUE ATTENTION TO A WEAKENED YET NUCLEAR-POWERFUL RUSSIA. UNDER SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES, SHOULD'NT NATO COME UP WITH A NEW EASTWARD EXPANSION STRATEGY DESIGNED TO GIVE RUSSIA MEMBERSHIP IN THE FUTURE ? NATO'S RAISON D'ETRE WOULD BE LOST IF ITS EASTWARD ENLARGEMENT INVERSELY ENDANGERED THE SECURITY OF EUROPE. TEXT: THAT CONCLUDES THIS SAMPLING OF THE EUROPEAN AND ASIAN PRESS ON THE OCCASION OF NATO'S HISTORIC ENLARGMENT. NEB/ANG/PT 18-Mar-99 5:53 PM EST (2253 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .