The transformation of the North Atlantic Alliance and, in particular, issues related to enlargement, the fight against terrorism and NATO-Russia relations are set to dominate the 'Spring' session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to be held in the National Palace of Culture, Sofia, Bulgaria from May 25 to 28 May, 2002.

300 (approx.) politicians from North America and East and West Europe was participate in the 4 day Assembly session which was held in Bulgaria - an aspirant for NATO membership - for the first time. A key event at the session was be a major plenary debate on a Draft Declaration supporting NATO Enlargement which 'calls upon Alliance Heads of State and Government to invite to commence accession talks those aspirant countries assessed to be ready for Alliance membership and whose accession is judged to strengthen security and stability in the North Atlantic area'.

The final Declaration will be communicated to the Heads of State of NATO member countries who will meet in Prague later this year (November 21 to 22) to decide which countries will be invited to join NATO.

Another major theme of the Session was the war against terrorism which was be addressed on the basis of reports and guest speakers in the Assembly's five committees (Political, Defence and Security, Economics and Security, Science and Technology, Civil Dimension of Security) on Saturday and Sunday May 25 and 26. Guest speakers included members of the Bulgarian Government, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Mr. Jan PETERSEN and Mr. Jean-Louis BRUGIERE, Investigating Magistrate on Anti-Terrorism, France.

As well as the debate on the Enlargement Declaration the Plenary Session on Tuesday May 28 was feature keynote addresses by Mr. Simeon de SAXE-COBOURG-GOTHA, Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Mr. Georgi PARVANOV, President of Bulgaria, Mr. Ognian GERDJIKOV, Speaker of the Bulgarian National Assembly and Mr. Rafael ESTRELLA (Spain), President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Owing to his NATO-Russia Summit commitments the Secretary General of NATO, Lord George ROBERTSON, was not present but a message from him to the delegates was relayed by video.

During the recent meeting of the NATO PA in Sofia, the leadership of the Assembly and the leaders of the Russian Federal Assembly agreed to create a parliamentary counterpart to the NATO-Russia Council endorsed at the Rome Summit.

This Parliamentary dimension will take the form of a NATO-Russia Parliamentary Standing Committee that will cover the same issues as the NATO-Russia Council and will provide an overall co-ordination role concerning relations between the Assembly and the Russian Federal Assembly. This Committee will hold its inaugural meeting during the Assembly's Annual Session in Istanbul, November 15 - 19.

Like the NATO-Russia Council, the members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee will work as equal partners in areas of common interest.

A call for a rapid and substantial enlargement of NATO was made by parliamentarians of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria on Tuesday 28 May during their 2002 Spring Session.

Mr. Peter Viggers, Chairman of the NATO PA's Political Committee and presenter of the Declaration on NATO Enlargement, said that "there has been complete support for the proposition that the Heads of State and Government meeting in Prague in November should opt for a robust enlargement of NATO". "The NATO PA is unanimous about this without a dissenting voice", he added.

Recognising the efforts of all aspirant countries towards NATO membership, the declaration states that Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania have proved their progress towards NATO membership through successful programmes of reform.

"It is crucial that aspirant countries continue their reforms well beyond the Prague Summit", Mr. Viggers said, adding that "NATO remains open to all European democracies, regardless of geography". The declaration was accepted by parliamentarians from all 19 NATO member countries and the debate included contributions by delegates from 17 associate delegations represented at the session including aspirant NATO membership countries.

The next meeting of the NATO PA will be held in Istanbul from 15 to 19 November, immediately prior to the Prague NATO Summit meeting at which a final decision will be made as regards which countries will be invited to join NATO.