Ten Central and Eastern European nations lined up behind the United States on Iraq today, saying in a joint statement it was now clear Baghdad was breaching UN disarmament resolutions.
"We have actively supported the international efforts to achieve a peaceful disarmament of Iraq," the foreign ministers of NATO aspirants Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia said.
"However, it has now become clear that Iraq is in material breach of UN Security Council Resolutions, including UN Resolution 1441..."
They said US Secretary of State Colin Powell had provided "compelling evidence" to the UN Security Council in a speech in which he charged Iraq had a policy of "evasion and deception" with UN weapons inspectors and was "in material breach" of UN disarmament demands.
The countries, which form the so-called "Vilnius Group' of NATO aspirants, said they had already pledged to contribute to an international coalition to disarm Iraq if Baghdad did not comply with the resolution.
"The clear and present danger posed by Saddam Hussein's regime requires a united response from the community of democracies. We call upon the UN Security Council to take the necessary and appropriate action in response to Iraq's continuing threat to international peace and security," they said.
AFP