Ex-US president Clinton to attend historic conference in Prague

Former US president Bill Clinton is due to take part in a security conference in Prague on Tuesday that marks the 25th anniversary of NATO's first eastward enlargement.

The former Eastern Bloc states of the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary joined the transatlantic defence alliance on March 12, 1999, after years of trying to get into the group.

Clinton was in the White House when the enlargement took place. He will give a keynote speech at the conference entitled "Our security cannot be taken for granted" on Tuesday at around 1:45 pm (1245 GMT).

Clinton, now 77, was the US leader from 1993 to 2001.

Czech President and former general Petr Pavel and former NATO secretary general George Robertson are also expected to take part in the conference.

For the three former Soviet bloc nations, being in NATO for 25 years is considered an important milestone.

Belonging to the western defence alliance, which now numbers 32 countries with Sweden's recent entry, is considered very important for many citizens in these nations, given Russia's all-out attack on Ukraine, which the Kremlin started more than two years ago.