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NATO

• NATO and American officials heartily thanked the crews of seven early warning radar planes that returned home Thursday after months of helping patrol U.S. East Coast airspace following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "Welcome home, welcome back and many, many thanks," NATO Secretary General Robertson greeted the crews one the AWACS planes that landed back at the base in the afternoon. Robertson praised the nearly 830 pilots, technicians and soldiers who participated in the effort for "a historic mission and a job well done." Nicholas Burns, the American ambassador to NATO, read aloud a personal greeting sent from President Bush thanking the crews for coming to the aid of the United States in its hour of need. "You lived with us, worked with us, and helped to keep us safe," the president wrote, thanking the crews and their families in the name of the American people. The crews and planes spent 220 days stationed on Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. From there they flew surveillance missions over the eastern seaboard, clocking 4,300 hours in over 360 sorties. Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, the head of the U.S. European Command attended the ceremony along with Italian Adm. Guido Venturoni, chairman of NATO’s Military Committee.(AP 161457 May 02 GMT)

• Despite misgivings over costs, the Senate seemed headed toward passage of a bill endorsing NATO expansion and giving 55.5 million dollars in security assistance to seven countries that hope to join the military alliance. "This bill is a symbolic one," Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said as debate began Thursday night, noting that a spending bill approved the money last year for the seven nations, all former Warsaw Pact members. "Symbolism, however, matters," he said. "Millions of Central and East Europeans, and millions of Americans of Central and East European descent, will welcome this restatement of NATO’s so-called ‘Open Door’ policy, which was the policy of the Clinton administration and which has been continued by the current Bush administration." The Senate was to vote on the measure Friday. The House of Representatives approved it Nov. 7 by a 372-46 vote. Secretary of State Powell and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld endorsed the bill in a letter to lawmakers May 7.(AP 170146 May 02 GMT)

EU

• Greece said Thursday that a new EU proposal had not allayed the suspicions about arch-rival Turkey that have prompted Athens to resist the launch of a European defense force. Spain on Tuesday presented Greece with a document aimed at allaying its concern over Turkey’s role in the force, part of a diplomatic flurry to end a dispute holding up an EU-NATO agreement on sharing military assets before June 30. "This proposal does not satisfy us. It is a proposal that tries to procedurally satisfy the lawful and reasonable worries of Greece," Greek foreign ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis told reporters. "Our objection to the Ankara document is known. We want the EU to have independent decision-making, we want equality between the EU and NATO," Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis told parliament on Thursday. Spain put a new proposal on the table during an EU-NATO meeting in Reykjavik earlier this week. The proposal combines a top-level formal EU declaration of assurances on the use of the force "in certain geographical areas" with an exchange of letters between the EU and NATO secretary-generals on practical arrangements. Beglitis said Athens wanted to keep talking. "We will continue to negotiate, aiming to change specific points in the Ankara document. We will not be satisfied with any formula that does not change the Ankara document," he said.(Reuters 1547 160502 May 02 GMT)

BALKANS

• A Croatian court will try seven former military policemen on war crimes charges next month in connection with the killing and torture of Serb prisoners in 1992, state news agency Hina reported on Thursday. The process, due to start on June 10 in the Adriatic city of Split, will be the largest trial of Croatian troops since a reformist coalition took power in 2000 and vowed to investigate all war atrocities. The Split seven are charged with "killing two and inflicting serious injuries on other Serb civilians" in the Lora military police base and prison outside Split, the agency said.(Reuters 1343 160502 May 02 GMT)

• In an indirect endorsement of a deal on continued ties with Serbia, the party of Montenegro’s president did well in municipal elections, according to unofficial results released on Thursday. Although the balloting was for seats on town and city councils, the real issue as reflected by campaign speeches was an agreement that redefines the ties between Montenegro and Serbia, the two remaining Yugoslav republics. "I am very happy with the election results," President Milo Djukanovic told The Associated Press. "They show that what’s ahead for Montenegro is a persistent pro-European and democratic future." According to results presented Thursday by political parties and independent observers, Djukanovic’s party secured five out of 19 municipalities and was in a position of strength to form coalition governments in at least six more. The ratio for and against independence remained 60 percent to 40 percent roughly the same as it was before the elections. The vote did not directly threaten the EU deal that also envisages a new name for Yugoslavia, "Serbia and Montenegro." The two republics will share a common defense and foreign policy but maintain separate economies, currencies and customs services. The makeover should be completed by June.(AP 161756 May 02 GMT)

OTHER NEWS

• Paratroopers touched down and quickly patched a gigantic crater on a runway as part of an ongoing exercise that the U.S. Army says represents the first joint operation of a U.S. rapid deployment force in Europe. The exercise, dubbed Hungarian Response 2002, began Monday and ends Wednesday. It includes more than 2,200 troops from the U.S. Army and Air Force. About 300 soldiers from Hungary and Italy also are participating. The U.S. troops are part of the Immediate Ready Force, a specialist unit that can be deployed within 48 hours for combat or peacekeeping missions. During the exercise, held on the Kecskemet airfield, 85 kilometers (53 miles) southeast of Budapest, the troops practiced rescuing civilians and fighting enemies in a fictional country called "Deruta." "Our goal is for the soldiers not to know whether they’re heading to take part in an exercise or a real situation," said Maj. Gary Bloomberg, based in Heidelberg, Germany. Such exercises have gained newfound importance after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, military officials said, adding they now are more aware they could encounter non-conventional enemies such as terrorists.(AP 161626 May 02 GMT)

 FINAL ITEM