NATO Expansion Ceremony Date Set

Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic will formally join NATO on March 12 at a ceremony in Independence, Mo., the U.S. Embassy in Budapest said. The three Central European countries will be the first former members of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The ceremony will be held in the Harry S. Truman Library, where President Truman announced the creation of NATO in 1949. “This is a proud day for the people of Hungary, who have worked hard to overcome the legacy of communism,” said Peter Tufo, the U.S. ambassador to Hungary.