11.   The NATO foreign ministers praised the way the partnership program was progressing.

12.   The partnership program, which currently does not apply to public school construction, uses private contractors to build public facilities and lease them to the government entity.

13.   The partnership program was set up last year to boost defense cooperation between East and West, and prepare some nations for NATO membership.

14.   Those who stay outside the alliance will continue to rely on NATO funding for military exercises and a host of partnership exchange programs.

15.   Twenty-three East European nations have joined the partnership program, unveiled at a January summit of President Clinton and other NATO leaders.

16.   In Brussels, a NATO spokesman said Russia would sign the partnership program but made no mention of the special protocol.

17.   But Russia is absent from the Poland maneuvers as it only joined the partnership program in June after the exercises had been organised.

18.   Russian membership in the NATO partnership program recently ran into snags after NATO carried out air strikes in Bosnia last month without consulting Moscow.

19.   The partnership programs offer former Warsaw Pact countries closer military cooperation with the alliance but stop short of giving them full membership.