US President George W. Bush is scheduled to welcome leaders of seven new member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at an accession ceremony on Monday, the White House said Sunday.  

The leaders include prime ministers of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia which will officially become NATO members at the ceremony to be held in the White House.

The White House said in a statement that the memberships of the seven nations in NATO will strengthen the treaty organization as it acts to face the new challenges of the 21st century.

It said that the seven nations "have already acted as allies through their strong solidarity and actions in the war on terrorism, and in helping to strengthen peace and democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq."

According to the White House, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will be present at the occasion.

President Bush will also meet on Monday with prime ministers of Albania, Croatia and Macedonia, which are bidding for NATO memberships.

(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2004)