Riga - Eastern European foreign ministers, meeting in the Latvian capital of Riga, congratulated Albania and Croatia Tuesday "on their imminent accession" to NATO.

The two countries are due to be granted membership at the NATO summit in the French city of Strasbourg and Kehl and Baden-Baden in Germany starting on April 3.

The foreign ministers also voiced approval of recent elections in Macedonia.

The meeting, involving Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Albania, Bosnia, Croatia and Macedonia along with representatives of the US state department and the Montenegrin foreign ministry, is being held under the banner of the "Adriatic-Baltic-Atlantic" partnership.

Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha told reporters that regional cooperation had transformed the western Balkans.

"This open door policy is a success. It has seen a region consumed by strife turned into an exporter of security," he said, referring to the region's troop commitments to NATO in Afghanistan.

"We also look forward to the day when Kosovo and Serbia can join us," Basha said.

Other countries were also mentioned as potential members of the European Union and NATO.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas said a Europe "whole and free" could not exist while the western Balkan countries, Georgia and Ukraine were excluded.

All three Baltic states also voiced their strong support for Turkey's EU membership aspirations.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet suggested that opponents of Turkish EU membership should "think a little deeper" to understand why it was important to have Turkey on board. (dpa)