Brussels - NATO's 26 members on Wednesday signed a set of protocols giving the green light for Albania and Croatia to join the alliance. 

The protocols, signed by the ambassadors of the NATO member states in the presence of the Albanian and Croatian foreign ministers, alter the North Atlantic Treaty - NATO's founding document - to add the two Adriatic states' names to the list of members. 

NATO's current members will now have to ratify the protocols in their national parliaments. Once they have done so, Albania and Croatia will have to ratify the modified version of the treaty, becoming full members as soon as they lodge the ratification documents in Washington. 

NATO leaders invited the two Adriatic states to join their alliance at a summit in Bucharest in April. Officials say that the ratification process usually takes approximately one year. 

However, NATO leaders have indicated that they hope the process can be completed in time for the alliance's 60th anniversary in April 2009. The anniversary is set to be marked by a summit in the French town of Strasbourg and its German neighbour, Kehl. (dpa)