Clinton: Expand NATO By 1999

DETROIT (AllPolitics, Oct. 22) -- President Bill Clinton today laid out his vision for expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization beyond its Cold-War era membership. "By 1999 -- NATO's 50th anniversary and 10 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall -- the first group of countries we invite to join should be full-fledged members of NATO," Clinton told a campaign rally. It is the first time he has attached any specifics to the issue.(320K WAV sound)

Tailored to reinforce Clinton's image as commander-in-chief, the campaign appearance and message appeals to significant numbers of ethnic Americans from central and eastern Europe who support NATO expansion. Many of those Americans live in large cities of the Midwest, precisely the areas both Clinton and GOP nominee Bob Dole are targeting for votes.(224K WAV sound)

NATO was founded in 1949 to contain the former Soviet Union and most of the nations now asking to become members were then under Soviet control. Broadening NATO's membership worries Russia, which sees a bigger NATO as a potential threat. (352K WAV sound)

Clinton called for cooperation between the two. "We should set up a mechanism for regular NATO-Russia meetings at all levels," he said.

But he made it clear that Russia would not call the shots on any expansion decisions. "NATO will remain open to all of Europe's emerging democracies who are ready to shoulder the responsibilities of membership," Clinton said. "No nation will be automatically excluded. No country outside NATO will have a veto."

The president did not name the countries he wants added to the alliance, but most NATO members expect Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to be first in line.

Dole has accused the president of dragging his feet on NATO expansion and of catering to Russia. In June, the former Senate majority leader urged that the process of naming prospective members begin in 1998, a year earlier than the president's plan calls for. The Clinton White House claims there is little difference between the two approaches.

The U.S. had been under pressure from its allies to clearly signal its intentions before NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels this December to begin drawing up a road map for expansion.

Michigan and its 18 electoral votes are an important prize in the election. Dole has been criss-crossing the state in recent days but the latest statewide poll shows Clinton with a 16-point lead, 52-36 percent.

With nationwide polls showing the president with solid double-digit leads, Clinton's campaign strategists are concentrating on electing Democrats to Congress. That means visiting states that Clinton appears to have locked up, including Illinois and Minnesota. If they get a Clinton landslide in the process, all the better, they say. But one aide says: "We're not going to pile on."

Clinton, concluding a five-state tour through the Midwest, heads later today to Florida for two days, hoping to widen his slim lead in that usual GOP stronghold. Dole was scheduled for a morning address from Grand Blanc, Mich., before heading to bellwether state Ohio for campaign appearances.

CNN's Jill Dougherty and Wolf Blitzer contributed to this report.

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