NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declared that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is prepared to extend an accession invitation to Macedonia as soon as the issue of its name is resolved.
Stoltenberg stated that, despite Russia’s opposition to expansion, “NATO’s door is open.”
I recently visited Skopje and I once again clearly stated that NATO is still committed to what we decided back in 2008, in Bucharest, and that is that when the name issue is solved, then we are ready to invite the country to become a member of NATO. […] I hope that those negotiations can be successfully concluded and then we will move on.
When asked about Russian attempts at destabilization following Macedonia’s possible accession to NATO, Stoltenberg said that “it’s a fundamental right for every nation to decide its own path, including what kind of security arrangements they want to be a part of.”
[…] Even though Russia has been against the enlargement of NATO for many, many years and always, or almost always, protested when NATO has become bigger with new members, the fact is that we have proven again and again that NATO’s door is open. And as I’ve stated many times, whether NATO will have new members, it’s for the aspirant country to decide and the 29 Allies. No-one else has a say, no-one else has any right to try to intervene or to veto such a process.
Talks between Greece and Macedonia aiming at resolving the 25-year disagreement about the latter’s name continue under UN supervision. A list has been drafted with concrete propositions for Macedonia’s official name.
