President Lauds Progress of Young European Democracies

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2008 – NATO’s invitation of membership to Albania and Croatia signifies the countries are on the right track in growing their fledgling democracies, President Bush said in his weekly radio address today.

“These countries have made extraordinary progress on the road to freedom, prosperity and peace,” he said after attending NATO's three day summit in Bucharest, Romania. “The invitation to join NATO represents the alliance’s confidence that they will continue to make necessary reforms and that they will become strong contributors to NATO’s mission of collective defense.”