Four countries have ratified NATO’s accession protocol so far
Bulgarian parliament ratified today the NATO accession protocol for North Macedonia. Bulgarian MPs voted unanimously in favour of this decision.
With this, Bulgaria becomes the fourth out of 29 NATO members to ratify this protocol. Greece, Albania, Slovenia and Bulgaria today, are the four countries which have taken this step. Yesterday, the Danish government announced that it will send to parliament the proposal for the ratification of this protocol.
Xhaferi: The process will be finalized by the end of the year
North Macedonia’s parliamentary speaker, Talat Xhaferi says that he’s hopeful that the protocol will be ratified by all NATO member countries by the end of the year.
“We’re hoping for the protocol to be finalized by the end of the year. Once this is done, we will be the 30th NATO member”, Xhaferi said.
Foreign minister Nikola Dimitrov is optimistic that this process will be finalized sooner than that.
“Normally, the ratification process takes about a year, but in our case, it may take a little less than a year”, minister Dimitrov said.
The country takes an important geo-political position
Former ambassador to NATO, Nano Ruzin says that by signing the protocol, the country takes an important geo-political position.
“This is very important for the stability of the country and the region, because this puts an end to the Macedonian issue”, Ruzin says. According to him, parliaments of member countries will finalize this process by the end of the year.
On February 6, 29 member countries of North Atlantic Treaty signed the protocol for North Macedonia’s accession to NATO. This allows the country to attend NATO meetings as an invitee. Once the decision is ratified by all 29 members, the country will enjoy full membership in this organization.