WASHINGTON, March 30 (UPI) -- The prime ministers of two former Soviet satellites newly admitted to NATO say their membership in the alliance is not a threat to Russia.
Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg of Bulgaria told a press conference the fact that his country had become a NATO member "in no way constitutes encirclement regarding Russia. Our strategic priorities are by now different."
Saxe-Coburg appeared Monday with the six prime ministers of the other new alliance countries -- Slovakia, Solvenia, Lithuania, Romania, Estonia, Latvia and three candidates for future membership -- Croatia, Albania and Macedonia.
Earlier the group had been formally admitted into NATO at a White House ceremony. It was the biggest enlargement in the alliance's 55-year history.
The Kremlin has publicly objected to the Baltic states and former Soviet republics (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) joining NATO because it brings the military alliance right up to the Russian border.
