	Background

NATO held a summit in Bucharest, Romania, April 2-4, 2008. The allies agreed to a "strategic vision" statement on Afghanistan. The document did not commit governments to accept a greater share of the combat burden. Missile Defense

NATO is also engaged in a continuing debate over missile defense. The third principal issue at Bucharest was the candidacies of Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia for entry into the alliance, and the request by Georgia and Ukraine to be placed in NATO's Membership Action Plan, a significant step on the road to formal candidacy. The allies extended invitations to Croatia and Albania.
NATO held a summit in Bucharest, Romania, April 2-4, 2008. The summit did not become the occasion to adopt major new ideas or initiatives. A "Strategic Vision" paper on Afghanistan clarified several issues but did not lead to a greater sharing of the combat burden among NATO governments. Croatia and Albania, but not Macedonia, were invited to begin accession negotiations for membership. In a contentious debate, neither Georgia nor Ukraine were admitted to the MAP process. The debate over missile defense led to the consolidation of an evolving allied position. See also CRS Report RL34415, Enlargement Issues at NATO ' s Bucharest Summit , by [author name scrubbed] et al. This report will be updated as events warrant.