Nog steeds onzekerheid over toetreding Georgië en Oekraïne vlak voor begin NAVO Top (en)
Germany has confirmed its intention not to allow Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO's membership action plan - seen as a first step towards NATO membership - at a summit starting on Wednesday (2 April).
Berlin has insisted it is "not the right time" for the two ex-Soviet republics to be allowed a step closer to full membership of the organisation, the Financial Times has reported.
A spokesperson for chancellor Angela Merkel has cited internal reasons - such as political unrest in Georgia and strong divisions among Ukrainians over NATO membership - as the main reason behind the German decision.
But Berlin has also underlined that Russia's "legitimate security concerns" about the Alliance's enlargement to the east should not be ignored, confirming some observers' claims that Germany is particularly preoccupied with not annoying Moscow.
Russia is firmly opposed to the two republics' NATO bids and incoming President Dmitry Medvedev last week warned that the expansion of the military organisation to include Ukraine and Georgia would also affect Europe's security.
Other countries opposing Tbilisi and Kiev's ambitions are said to include France and Italy, but also Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and Luxembourg.
On the other hand, the US, as well as some eastern European EU members such as Poland, are backing the countries' eventual NATO membership.
Following the internal divisions, the 26 NATO members are now looking for a compromise that would keep everybody happy and not make it look as though Moscow has had a say in the organisation's internal affairs.
The NATO summit, which will also mark the organisation's 59th anniversary, will last from Wednesday (2 April) to Friday (4 April) and will be held in Bucharest.
Possible Greek veto on Macedonia
The meeting is also set to be clouded by a row between Greece and Macedonia on the former Yugoslav state's name - an issue that is threatening to disrupt Skopje's NATO accession.
Three Balkan countries - Albania, Croatia and Macedonia - were expected to be invited to join the Alliance at the Bucharest summit.
However, Greece reiterated on Monday (31 March) its threat to veto an invitation to Skopje, unless a "mutually acceptable solution" is found on its neighbour's name.
"No mutually acceptable solution [on the name] means no NATO invitation," Greek foreign minister Dora Bakoyianni said, according to German news agency DPA.
She also said Greece would not yield to external pressure on the matter - the EU as well as the US have repeatedly urged both countries to find a compromise, while there are fears that a veto on Macedonia may threaten stability in the Balkans region as a whole.
"We are in the middle of negotiations, which undoubtedly have watersheds. One such defining moment in negotiations is the Bucharest summit _ Greece does not, however, waver and does not exercise its foreign policy under deadlines placed by others," she told Greek newspaper Ethnos.
A Balkan stalemate
Greece is refusing to recognise its neighbour's constitutional name, Republic of Macedonia - although it has been recognised by some 100 other countries worldwide, including Russia, the US, China, Canada, Turkey, as well as some EU members such as the UK and Bulgaria.
A northern region in Greece is also called Macedonia, and Athens fears that allowing Skopje to use the name will open the way to territorial claims.
The two countries have been deadlocked in a fight over the issue for 17 years, while the "provisional" term Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) has been used to designate the country since 1993 - with both Athens and Skopje disagreeing on the long-term use of this name.
UN-mediated talks on Macedonia's name are currently ongoing, but Athens said the latest UN proposal put forward by UN mediator Matthew Nimetz last week - Republic of Macedonia (Skopje) - was "far from the goals sought by Greece".
For its part, the Macedonian parliament was to vote on this new proposal yesterday, but then said that with no positive sign coming from Greece, it would rather wait.
According to some analysts, a veto on Macedonia could also have consequences on neighbouring Albania's application, as doubts remain over Tirana's full readiness to join NATO and its membership bid is mainly being backed in the name of maintaining stability in the region.