NATO studies bids of Balkans

By Mark John

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO will discuss the accession hopes of five would-be members on Thursday as the alliance considers a new expansion east aimed at nurturing Balkans stability but which could increase tensions with Russia.

Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels will assess the readiness of a trio of Adriatic countries -- Croatia, Albania and Macedonia -- plus Ukraine and Georgia to move closer towards the goal of membership of the Western military alliance.

Diplomats tip Croatia as most likely to win an invitation at a summit in April to join NATO. It could be joined by Albania and Macedonia, although Macedonia is facing a Greek threat to block its bid in a long-standing row over its name.

Georgia and Ukraine can at best hope to be offered a so-called "membership action plan" preparing them for accession at a later date, although Western European nations including Germany and France doubt they are even ready for that.

While Russia cannot block NATO membership steps, allies know that deepening ties with ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia risks damaging further ties with Moscow that are already badly strained over Kosovo's Western-backed secession from Serbia.

Even the United States, traditionally a firm backer of the two countries' aspirations to join NATO, was cagey about their prospects ahead of the Brussels talks.

"The United States in principle has always said that ... when countries are ready for these various stages that NATO ought to have an open door to them," said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is in Brussels.

"That continues to be our position. But I think we are going to want to have discussions," she told reporters.

EASING TENSIONS

Political tensions on NATO's eastern flank eased on Wednesday as Ukraine and Russia reached agreement to restore gas supplies to Ukraine, averting the risk of cuts in deliveries to western Europe.

But aside from the row over Kosovo's independence -- which Moscow firmly opposed -- NATO allies and Russia face continued wrangling on issues ranging from a planned U.S. missile shield in eastern Europe to a dispute over a key Europeans arms treaty.

In the Balkans, violent incidents in northern Kosovo and a growing boycott by local Serbs of Kosovo institutions have raised fears of a de facto partition of the Serb-dominated north from the rest of the overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian country.

NATO commanders have reinforced the alliance's 16,000-plus security force and say the situation is under control for now.

Yet efforts to deepen NATO ties across the region have hit a potential stumbling block over the threat by alliance member Greece to block Macedonia's entry in a row over its name.

Greece rejects the name Macedonia, saying it implies territorial ambitions by its neighbor against its own northern province of Macedonia, birthplace of Alexander the Great.