NATO Balkans hopefuls get encouragement for bids

MUNICH (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer gave overt encouragement on Saturday to the aspirations of Croatia, Albania and Macedonia to join the bloc, saying he hoped for new entry invitations at an April summit.

"It is ... important that we create a new dynamic in the region," de Hoop Scheffer told a security conference in the southern German city of Munich, referring to the Balkans.

"That's why I hope at Bucharest we will be ready to open NATO's door to new members from this region," he added, referring to an April 2-4 summit in the Romanian capital.

NATO allies are currently studying the application bids of the three would-be members, which must meet a range of military and democratic conditions.

Diplomats say Croatia appears closer to fulfilling the criteria than the other two but stress no decisions have been taken within the 26-member alliance yet.

German Defense Minister Franz Jozef Jung told the same conference he was "optimistic with reference to the perspective of Croatia joining, and perhaps also the prospects for Albania and Macedonia".

The three Balkans countries missed out on NATO's last enlargement wave in 2004, when it took in seven formerly communist states -- Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

(Reporting by Mark John; Editing by Jon Boyle)