
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 17, 1994                   TAG: 9403170176
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM                                LENGTH: Short

MOLDOVA ENTERS NATO PROGRAM

The former Soviet republic of Moldova signed on Wednesday to NATO's partnership program for members of the disbanded Warsaw Pact. Russia is expected to join formally by month's end.

The allies have been eagerly awaiting Russia's entry into the "Partnership for Peace" program, which among other things allows Eastern European nations to participate in NATO military exercises.

The program is intended to draw former Cold War adversaries closer without granting them full NATO membership and the security guarantees that go with it.

With Moldova's entry into the partnership program, 12 nations now belong: Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine.

- Associated Press

by CNB