Twenty-eight years ago today, on July 8, 1997 (June 4, 1997 lunar calendar), NATO's eastward expansion plan began to be implemented. On July 8, 1997, the NATO summit meeting was held at the Municipal Assembly Building in Madrid, Spain. After more than five hours of haggling, the heads of state and government of the 16 member states decided to "invite the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to start negotiations with NATO on the issue of membership", finally enabling the three countries to officially become members on the occasion of NATO's 50th anniversary in April 1999. This marked the official launch of NATO's eastward expansion plan, which has been in the pipeline for more than three years, and will also bring about major changes in the post-Cold War European security landscape. In his speech at the end of the meeting, NATO Secretary-General Solana said that the door of NATO will continue to be open. When talking about the countries that have applied to NATO, he emphasized the NATO's concern for Romania and Slovenia. Solana said that NATO is willing to strengthen cooperation with countries in the region to maintain security and stability in Southeast Europe. At the same time, NATO has also noticed the efforts of the Baltic countries that are trying to join NATO to contribute to the security of the region. After NATO signed the "elementary file" with Russia on May 27, 1997, NATO's eastward expansion was a foregone conclusion. The United States then publicly stated that it only agreed to absorb the first three countries: the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. The attitude of the United States was supported by five other member states including the United Kingdom. Most member states, including France and Italy, want Romania and Slovenia to be included in the first expansion. Until this meeting, the two sides were still at odds and had to refer the issue to the leaders for discussion. Agence France-Presse reported that this is the first time in NATO history that a summit meeting will be held with the final document of a future meeting agreed. According to the rules of the meeting, the discussion on this day is not open to the public, but some delegations have disclosed the relevant information to the press. The spokesperson of the French delegation distributed President Chirac's speech at the briefing. In his speech, Chirac expressed his deep dissatisfaction with the imperious attitude of the United States, warning that if the two countries that have already met the standards are not allowed to join the alliance, it will risk undermining the unity of the alliance and damaging the credibility of the alliance. In his speech, Italian Prime Minister Prodi also expressed his firm position in support of Slovenia's accession. Another main topic of the meeting is the reform of NATO's military institutions and the reform of political decision-making procedures. According to sources familiar with the situation, it will take decades of difficult negotiations to reach a final agreement on the reform of NATO's military institutions. NATO Secretary-General Solana chaired the meeting. Also attending the meeting were the secretary-general of the Western European Union and the chairperson of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.