07/05/2008
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Croatia wraps up the first round of its NATO accession talks Wednesday (May 7th), little more than two weeks after launching them. The second and final round of talks will focus on financial, defence and legal issues and is also aimed at specifying the amount Croatia will contribute to NATO's common budget. Each member's contribution is based on its economic strength, and generally amounts to around 0.5% of their military budget. The Alliance then prepares a protocol for accession to be signed in July. Thus, Croatia is expected to participate in NATO's next summit in the spring of 2009 as a full member. (HRT, Makfax, Vjesnik, HINA - 07/05/08)