Historic opportunity for accession of Macedonia to NATO
NATO Secretary General to Prime Minister Zoran Zaev: “We will invite the former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia to start accession talks at our Summit in July”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discusses recent breakthrough in name issue between Macedonia and Greece with Prime Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Zoran Zaev. The Secretary General said that this is an historic opportunity which cannot be missed. He said that at the NATO Summit in two weeks, „we will invite the former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia to start accession talks”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg remarks:
“I warmly welcome your agreement. It is a great achievement, for Skopje and for Athens. And a demonstration of the value of patient diplomacy. And I would like to also commend you for your personal leadership, for your courage, making it possible to reach this agreement. The name dispute has cast a shadow over the region for too long. It has held back prosperity and security. But now there is the chance for a brighter future. The agreement sets an example for others across the region on how to consolidate peace and stability. At our Summit in two weeks, I expect that Allied Heads of State and Government will invite you to start accession talks. And once all national procedures have been completed to finalise the agreement, you will join NATO. Without the finalisation of the agreement, your country can not join NATO in the foreseeable future. So this is an historic opportunity which cannot be missed. NATO’s door is open, and you are now on the doorstep.
You have already shown your commitment to international peace and security, working with NATO. For example with your contributions to our presence in Afghanistan. And you are contributing to continuing stability in the Western Balkans. NATO shares that commitment to security and stability in the region. It is important not just for the Western Balkans, but for the whole of Europe. So Prime Minister, we want to see you and your country at the heart of a stable, democratic and prosperous region. And we will support you. I look forward to continue to work together with you, and also to welcome you at the NATO Summit in July.
We will invite the former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia to start accession talks at our Summit in July. I am very confident that all the Heads of State and Government will decide that in two weeks from now. Then we will start accession talks and then the country will be able to join NATO as soon as the internal processes have been finished. We are ready to make the former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia a full member of the Alliance as soon as these internal processes are finalised.
I am confident that the Heads of State and Government will do that when they meet in July, is to invite the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to start accession talks. Then we will have accession talks for normally some months and given that the internal processes are finalised in the country, then you can join NATO. Meaning that, after we have finalised the accession talks, we will then sign an Accession Protocol and then this Accession Protocol has to be ratified in the different parliaments of the NATO Member States, 29 Member States. It varies a bit how long this takes, but I can give you two examples: when Montenegro joined, we invited Montenegro to start accession talks in December 2015, then we completed the accession talks in March 2016, so meaning 3 months, and then all 29 Allies had ratified by June 2017. So actually the thing that takes some time is the ratification in the different Member States. When Albania and Croatia joined, they were invited in April 2008 at the Bucharest Summit, and they joined in April 2009, one year later, so that was even faster. So we speak about something between one and one and a half years from when we invite to start accession talks until the country can be a full member. But as soon as we have signed the Accession Protocol, which normally takes just a few months - Montenegro 3 months - then the country will be invited to participate in all NATO meetings and will sit around the table and be a part of the NATO Council. So actually Montenegro started to participate in all NATO activities in March 2016, only three months after we started the accession talks. So this can go quite quickly; we speak about months. As soon as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has finalised the Agreement, meaning made the necessary changes in the Constitution, and then we can invite the country to join under its new name, the Republic of North Macedonia. So I really hope that the people of your country seize this opportunity; it’s an historic opportunity, and if this opportunity is turned down, then it’s very hard to imagine how we can once again come to a situation where you are so close to joining NATO. So it's for the people of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to decide, but we are ready to invite and to do it as quickly as possible and we speak about months.
Prime Minister of Greece Tsipras said yesterday, and he reiterated the Greek position that they are ready to welcome the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as a full member of NATO under its new name as soon as the agreement is fully implemented. And that’s exactly the same message that I convey to you today: that as soon as the agreement is fully implemented through the national processes in the two countries, then your country can be a full member of the Alliance. But we will, already in July - in two weeks - we will invite your country to start accession talks, and then we hope to be able to finish them within months, and as I said, as soon as we have finished the accession talks, we sign the Accession Protocol and then your country, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will be participating in all NATO meetings and sit around the table together with all the other members.
