Macedonia signs the NATO Accession Protocol today (LIVE)

The Permanent Representatives to NATO of the 29 members of the Alliance will sign the Accession Protocol with Macedonia today.

The ceremony takes place at NATO HQ in Brussels in the presence of Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov.

Accession Protocol will allow Macedonia to take part in all ‘key formats’ of the North Atlantic Council.

Macedonia will not be able to participate in meetings where sensitive information is shared before it joins the Alliance as a full-fledged member by which time the country will acquire the capacity needed to manage such sensitive information, Slovenia’s Ambassador to NATO Jelko Kacin has recently told MIA.

After the Accession Protocol is signed, every NATO member will have to ratify Macedonia’s membership, which could take up to two years.

However, it is expected the process to be concluded by early 2020. Some members, such as Canada and Belgium, in the past have exercised longer and more complex ratification procedures.

In a symbolic gesture, the Greek government will most probably be the first country to ratify North Macedonia’s NATO accession protocol, as it aims to do it by 8 February.

Once all 29 NATO member countries ratify the Accession Protocol, the Macedonian flag will be hoisted alongside those of other members outside NATO HQ in Brussels.

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