Macedonia: “NATO invitation maybe within the year”
03/06/2017 00:00
The Washington Agreement Must Be Reactivated! 06/01 19:04
Various observers share the conviction that with the increased inerest
in the USA and EU, and with a serious work of the new government for the
country’s democracy, the invitation for the northern-Atlantic
membership will not delay.
The former Macedonian ambassador to NATO, Nano Ruzhin, believes that the Northern Atlantic Alliance is prepared to accept Skopje the quickest possible, if they can convince Greece about the country’s name. Zaev has promised to not block the issue, but try find a solution.
Signals from Athens seem positive as well. The Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Kotzias, said he was ready to invite the Foreign Minister of FYROM in Greece to deepen the bilateral cooperation and overcome the problems which created obstacles between their countries.
Ruzhin adds that the current geopolitical factors in Western Balkan, may bring cgood opportunities to overcome the naming issue and get a NATO invitation, even within this year. The reason, according to him, is that the meddling of Russia is forcing USA and their allies to increase their presence.
In 2008, Macedonia lost the NATO accession chance due to the conflict with Greece about the name.
Skopje received a conditioned invitation, in which the Alliance pledged to accept Macedonia once they had resolved problems with Greece. Greece insists that “Macedonia” is not the right name for their country, since that name belongs to their northern province. For this reason, Athens even blocked Skopje’s efforts to join the EU.
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