61.   Critics contend these three Baltic republics would be difficult to defend because they are small and next to Russian territory.

62.   Despite the end of the war, the southern Muslim republic has been awash in kidnappings and other crime.

63.   For many of the few thousand Afghans living in neighboring Tajikistan, the former Soviet republic will never be an adopted homeland.

64.   Four of the five Central Asian presidents came to power when their republics were still part of the Soviet Union.

65.   Halonen said the Baltic republics were bound to join NATO but assured Putin that Finland would not change its policy of neutrality.

66.   He said that if Belgrade is unwilling to go along with a new relationship, his republic is well on its way toward integrating into the rest of Europe.

67.   However, the former Soviet republic has so far been reluctant to host U.S. troops.

68.   If Belgrade is unwilling to go along with a new relationship, he said, his republic is well on its way toward integrating into the rest of Europe.

69.   However, President Milo Djukanovic said his republic is prepared to allow international peacekeepers heading for Kosovo to use Montenegrin territory.

70.   However, until recently, this impoverished and volatile former Soviet republic was reluctant to get too involved in the military campaign against its southern neighbor.