U.S. President George W. Bush opened the meeting of NATO leaders in Bucharest, Romania on Wednesday. He held a speech at the Palace of the Deposit and Savings Bank and demanded the alliance to “finish the fight” in Afghanistan and fortify its military forces in order to defeat Al Qaeda.

Bush also said that efforts must be made to add Albania, Croatia and Macedonia and to begin the membership process for both Ukraine and Georgia, countries that were once integral parts of the Soviet Union.

France and Germany previously declared that they did not want to offer a membership action plan (MAP) for Ukraine and Georgia. Greece objected to inviting Macedonia to join due to a dispute over the country’s use of the name “Macedonia.”

The U.S. President affirmed that his administration will continue with its plans to install a missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland, even it is well known the fact that Russia does not welcome the issue. Bush declared that he would ensure President Vladimir Putin that the system does not represent a threat to Russia and he would try to persuade the Russian leader to cooperate with NATO. The two presidents are due to meet this week.

“I will reiterate that the missile defense capabilities we are developing are not designed to defend against Russia, just as the new NATO we are building is not designed to defend against Russia,” Bush said quoted by the New York Times. “The cold war is over. Russia is not our enemy.”

Bush reminded his European allies that the terrorist Osama bin Laden launched two weeks ago a statement that included a threat to attack Europe. “We need to take the words of the enemy seriously…The terrorist threat is real, it is deadly, and defeating this enemy must be the top priority of the NATO alliance.”

After his speech, President Bush flew to Constanta on the Black Sea in order to meet Romania’s President Traian Basescu. The NATO leaders’ working meetings are scheduled to take place on Thursday at the Palace of the Parliament.