Message to the Senate Reporting a Certification Regarding NATO Invitees Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia

To the Senate of the United States:

Consistent with Condition (l)(A) of the resolution of advice and consent to the ratification of the Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on the Accession of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, adopted by the United States Senate on May 8, 2003, and based on the recommendation of the Department of State, I hereby certify to the Senate that:

(i) the inclusion of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia in NATO will not have the effect of increasing the overall percentage share of the United States in the common budgets of NATO; and (ii) the inclusion of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia in NATO does not detract from the ability of the United States to meet or to fund its military requirements outside the North Atlantic area.

GEORGE W. BUSH

The White House, February 25, 2004.