Macedonia took a big step towards full NATO membership on Wednesday when NATO state ministers in Brussels signed its accession protocol– which will enable it to become the club’s 30th member under its new name, Republic of North Macedonia.
Foreign ministers of NATO member states and of Macedonia on Wednesday, meeting at the alliance’s Brussels headquarters, signed the protocol on the country’s accession, marking a major step on the path to full membership.
Calling the occasion historic, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg commended Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for their “courage” in signing a bilateral agreement ending the dispute over Macedonia’s name last year.
Macedonia will enter the Western military alliance under its new name, Republic of North Macedonia, which was agreed in the historic “name” deal signed last summer with Greece.
In return for changing its name, to which Greece objected for years – insisting it implied a territorial claim towards its own northern province also called Macedonia – Athens agreed to lift its long-standing blockade on Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic accession.
“We have waited for you to join our family for a long time,” Stoltenberg said in Brussels, adding that Macedonia’s accession also shows NATO’s commitment to further enlargement.
The signing ceremony on Wednesday marked the start of a lengthy ratification process in all 29 parliaments of the NATO countries, after which North Macedonia will become a full NATO member with a right to vote.
“I am confident that the ratification process will proceed smoothly and we will soon be able to welcome you as a full NATO member,” Stoltenberg said.
“For us, NATO is crossing the line of certainty [into] a family of nations dedicated to security and stability,” Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov said.
“The journey is not over [for Macedonia] but we won’t walk the path alone. We will have 29 friends and allies behind us,” Dimitrov added, also expressing hope for a swift ratification process.
NATO invited Macedonia to join the alliance last year, shortly after it reached the agreement with Greece. The deal also opened doors for Macedonia at the EU; the country hopes to launch long overdue EU accession talks this year.
In what is expected to be a largely symbolic gesture, the Greek government is expected to be the first country to ratify North Macedonia’s NATO accession protocol.
According to unnamed sources, quoted by EURACTIV.com. the Greek parliament is expected to ratify the protocol by the end of this week, probably on Friday.
While optimists hope ratification in other national parliaments will follow shortly, allowing Macedonia to become a full NATO member at its July summit, others are more cautious.
Most countries in the Balkans are already members of the alliance, which was formed in 1949 to provide collective security against the then Soviet Union.
Greece and Turkey joined in 1951-2. Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro and Romania have joined much more recently – Montenegro in 2017.
