(7 May 2006)
1. US Vice President Dick Cheney walks onto terrace with Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) US Vice President Dick Cheney
"We are strongly supportive of Croatia''s becoming a full member of the transatlantic community, both in terms of working with NATO and with the European community. We are also deeply appreciative of the role Croatia has played in Afghanistan as partners in the coalition in dealing with the very difficult situation in that part of the world."
3. Wide shot of meeting
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ivo Sanader, Croatian Prime Minister
"Membership in NATO is a strategic goal of my nation. Croatia is aware that peace and security cannot be achieved in isolation. In NATO we recognise a uniquely efficient political and defence alliance, an alliance founded on the values of peace, freedom, democracy and free market economy."
5. Cheney listening
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sali Berisha, Albanian Prime Minister
"We see NATO membership as a top priority that is why my government has decided to take any decision, to pay any price, to seriously implement (the) NATO membership action plan. During all these 15 years Albania showed a real loyal partnership to NATO. And it was and will be wherever NATO is and will be, wherever the United States are and will be in the defence of freedoms and common values."
7. Mid shot of meeting
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vlado Buckovski, Macedonian Prime Minister
"In just four years the Republic of Macedonia has transformed from a consumer of NATO and new security assistance to a contributor to the new Atlantic security, a stable and functioning multi-ethnic democracy, candidate country for European Union membership and an advanced candidate for NATO membership."
9. Audience listening
STORYLINE:
US Vice President Dick Cheney thanked Croatia on Sunday for contributing to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation''s (NATO) force in Afghanistan and welcomed its ambition to join the transatlantic defence alliance.
"We are strongly supportive of Croatia becoming a full member of the transatlantic community, both in terms of working with NATO and working with the European community," Cheney said.
Later Cheney met with the prime ministers of Albania and Macedonia who said they were eager to join both NATO and the European Union.
"Membership in NATO is a strategic goal of my nation," Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader told the meeting.
"We see NATO membership as a top priority that is why my government has decided to take any decision, pay any price to seriously implement (the) NATO membership action plan," Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said.
"In just four years the Republic of Macedonia has transformed from a consumer of NATO and new security assistance to a contributor to the new Atlantic security," Macedonian Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski said.
Cheney was visiting Croatia while on a three nation trip during which meetings were held with leaders of more than a dozen countries, most of them in Europe.
His itinerary and scheduled talks brought heavy emphasis to bear on democratic reforms in areas that either were part of the Soviet Union during the Cold War or lay in the Kremlin''s long shadow.
The United States has long encouraged NATO aspirations for Croatia, Albania and Macedonia
In his public remarks, Cheney made no mention of any of the controversies surrounding their bid to gain full membership by the end of this decade.
Croatia, however, has not.
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