Around 300 members of parliament from 39 countries -- 26 members of the recently-expanded NATO and 13 associate members -- are attending the five-day meeting.

On Thursday, two plastic bags containing a total of almost one and a half kilos (about three pounds) of industrial explosives and charges were discovered under a rubbish bin near the concert hall hosting the assembly.

Assembly spokesman Keith Williams described the discovery as "disturbing" but played down its significance and said no changes to the meeting or extra security arrangements were planned. Security is already tight for the meeting.

"It looks as if this was more a protest rather than a serious threat," he told AFP.

The Bratislava event comes two months after Slovakia and six other former Soviet bloc countries joined NATO on March 29. Slovakia also was among 10 mainly eastern European countries which joined the European Union on May 1.

The NATO meeting is set to discuss a variety of issues including the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq, the war against terror, nuclear proliferation and weapons of mass destruction and the security relationship between NATO and the European Union.

WAR.WIRE