Although the north-eastern nations were not elected to be elected 29 years ago, and the north-eastern nations were not elected to be elected on 22 October 1996 (Northern Calendar 11 September 1996), the United States first announced the timetable of NATO's east-east expansion. On 22 October 1996, U.S. President Clinton spoke during his campaign in Detroit, saying that NATO should accept the first Eastern European nations as new members before 1999 and that the U.S. government had not made a clear statement on the specific time when it would accept the new Eastern European nations. U.S. leaders said in their 22nd speech that the first Eastern European nations should become official members of NATO before 1999. Although Clinton did not specify specifically which Eastern European nations would be the first members of the political stability agreement, U