Would-Be NATO States Support Clinton Plan : Alliances: But unity declarations after Prague meeting barely hide Central European nations’ concern.

Four of Central Europe’s fledgling democracies lined up with President Clinton to support his new security formula Wednesday, but the declarations of unity barely drowned out their concern over the pace at which they will be drawn into the Western Alliance.

After half a day of meetings with Clinton in Prague, leaders of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia agreed to back the “Partnership for Peace” plan that is to integrate their nations gradually with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

But even as they fulfilled Clinton’s desire for public support, their words underscored the unanswered questions and potential for conflict in a plan that is more hope and vision than concrete blueprint for their future security.

Polish President Lech Walesa, who has complained that the program leaves the former Soviet satellites at risk if Russia again becomes expansionist, said, “Sometimes small is beautiful.” But his unhappy sense that others were guiding Poland’s fate was evident as he added, “It’s been decided by the powers of the world, and we shall try to make good use of this.”

Czech President Vaclav Havel said he hoped the Prague gathering will be seen as a landmark but cautioned that the plan is “not a substitute” for the full NATO membership that the four countries seek. And he pointedly noted his unhappiness with evidence that admission had been denied because of fears that it would antagonize Russia.

“We are independent states, and we decide ourselves about our affiliations and our policies,” Havel said.

Following the sessions, Clinton flew to Kiev for an airport meeting with Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk to bolster his sales pitch for the recent accord to eliminate Ukraine’s nuclear warheads. Clinton then went on to Moscow, where the pact will be signed.

Landing at the Moscow airport in a light snow shortly before 1 a.m. local time, Clinton was greeted by a delegation including Russian Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin. The President made no statement before heading to his hotel.

While Clinton portrayed the Prague meetings as evidence of his and the four nations’ commitment to NATO integration, the sessions painfully revealed the plan’s many unresolved questions and its potential for sparking competition among the countries that want the military and political benefits of NATO membership.

Clinton tried to stress the United States’ commitment to the new democracies, their influence in NATO’s decisions and the likelihood that they will become full-fledged members.

He quoted an old Polish saying--”Nothing about us without us”--and asserted that “the security of your states is important to the security of the United States.” Clinton said that while the new arrangement was not full NATO membership, “neither is it a permanent holding room.”

Under Clinton’s plan, the Central European states will take steps to gradually draw closer to the 16 NATO states politically, economically and militarily. Schemes for cooperative military operations, regular political consultation and more open trade ties will be developed and implemented.

As the Clinton Administration envisions it, the process will ultimately end in full NATO membership for the applicants--possibly even Russia. At that point, NATO will not only become a guarantor against aggression but will also presumably protect member states from hostile actions by any other member.

That appears to be a long way down the road, however, especially since some West Europeans are reluctant to expand the alliance at all. And the potentially momentous question of whether the United States is prepared to guarantee with money and troops the security of Poland, the Czech Republic and other possible members--perhaps by stationing U.S. troops in those countries--is a subject most Americans have scarcely begun to think about.

It is that apprehension about whether the Partnership for Peace will in fact ever lead to ironclad security guarantees that underlay the doubts behind the public endorsements.

As Czech citizens watching the pageantry and diplomatic drills were quick to point out, hazy promises of protection have repeatedly proved worthless--from the earliest days of the Iron Curtain back through the world wars and beyond.

Behind the scenes, Polish and Czech officials were already disagreeing on how the aspiring members could seek membership in the alliance. And Clinton had to publicly answer the ticklish question of whether the United States would decline to rescue a would-be ally if one of them was attacked.

Clinton acknowledged it was “doubtful.” He could add only that “none of us believe . . . that is imminent.”

U.S. officials said there had been no firmer talk of security guarantees behind the scenes either. “There was no hint of an explicit security guarantee,” an official said.

Instead, the United States is implicitly arguing to the Central Europeans that their best chance of future help if trouble comes is to have used the next few years to bind themselves closely to Europe and the United States in as many ways as they can.

The partnership, officials suggest, is the best way now available to do that, given Western Europe’s reservations and America’s current preoccupation with domestic concerns.

The President sought to show the Americans’ good faith by offering a variety of sweeteners.

In perhaps the most concrete offering in the Clinton proposal, the United States will drop Cold War restrictions on the sale of military hardware to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. To help all of the four nations, which are the most Westernized of the former Warsaw Pact members, the United States will work for quicker admission to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Administration will earmark $30 million in seed money for an effort to develop democratic organizations in Eastern Europe.

Clinton also promised to organize a “council on trade and investment” in Washington this year and to support the four countries’ regional cooperation by helping to develop their transportation and communications systems, including air traffic control. These efforts will not involve increased aid dollars, officials said.

But even the pledges pointed to ticklish questions. The eased sale of military hardware was a reminder of the risks of selling goods that, amid racking political changes, may not end up in democratic hands.

Critics of the partnership plan worry that NATO could end up training and outfitting the East European countries, only to have them turn away from democracy and free-market capitalism, perhaps becoming enemies once more.

At the very least, the NATO powers must wrestle with questions of how to reward countries that move more quickly toward their form of government without inciting antagonisms among neighbors.

Clinton began Wednesday with a morning visit to one of the world’s most significant Jewish burial grounds, the Old Jewish Cemetery in the center of Prague’s once-thriving Jewish ghetto.

About the size of a city block, the centuries-old cemetery is the resting place for 90,000 Jews, who had to be buried on top of one other--in some cases 12 deep--because of medieval laws barring Jews from owning real estate.

With 12,000 headstones piled almost on top of each other, the walled cemetery complex has also become the site of a Holocaust museum. The Wall of Names in the Pinkas Synagogue at the edge of the cemetery is being inscribed with the names of 77,297 Bohemian and Moravian Jewish Holocaust victims.

Adolf Hitler planned to make the Jewish quarter a “museum of an exterminated race,” said Jaroslav Safranek, who led Clinton on a tour of the cemetery.

Wearing a light-gray yarmulke, Clinton examined the wall with Rabbi Karl Sidon, Rabbi of the Czech Republic. Safranek led him along the twisting path through the cemetery, pointing out the resting place of scholar and poet Avigdor Kara, who in 1439 was the first to be buried in the cemetery.

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