Neither will NATO fight Russia, nor will Moscow attack Macedonia


The warnings given by the Russian ambassador that Macedonia will become the target of a retaliatory attack on our entry and NATO conflict with Moscow are just political decor without a real basis, says General Blagoja Markovski. According to him, our government did not need to intervene in the conflict between the UK and Russia, but the situation is much more relaxed than the one represented by Ambassador Oleg Shcherbak and the administration of President Vladimir Putin.

“I think members of the Alliance and Russia are attacking verbally. Today, relations between countries are bilateral, then international, and eventually end up in the United Nations. If you already want to speak with such a language, then in case of intervention, you first need to think about Bulgaria and Romania, and then all the other 27 NATO member states. Our goal and idea of ​​joining the alliance is to ensure security and integrity, not combat actions. If you are alone, the defense system costs much more, than when you are with partners,” Markovski said.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev also said that there is no danger of disturbing relations with Russia.

“The official views of the high figures of the Russian Federation are that laws must be respected and the services that work everywhere, these are primarily authorized, that is, accredited diplomatic representatives, our Russians here and everywhere in the world must respect the Vienna Conventions, which means an obligation that the countries themselves have accepted, and of course the laws of the home countries,” Zaev said.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed the information given by Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov regarding the expulsion of a Russian diplomat because, as he said, there were serious doubts, ie evidence backed up with documentation and in accordance with diplomatic procedures, and that in this case it was acted in accordance with the Vienna Convention and the domestic laws.

“Previously, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we contacted President Ivanov. He has his own position, but we have also concluded this procedure before we make the decision itself,” Zaev said. Asked if there was a danger of violating relations with Russia, he said that it will probably not happen.
Russian ambassador to the country, Oleg Shcherbak, believes that if we enter the “aggressive political-military alliance”, we will become a NATO base, and the security situation will not improve at all.

“If you become a member of this alliance, and NATO attacks Russia, then Macedonia will become the target of a retaliatory attack. We are not threatening, but as friends, we want to point out what the consequences of the possible entry into NATO will be,” said Shcherbak.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Saturday that the ambassadors of 23 countries ordered the expulsion of Russian diplomats over the “Skripal case”, and among them was Macedonia, because the same number of their diplomats were proclaimed a persona non grata. The ministry’s statement said that those countries expelled Russian diplomats due to poisoning with a nervous agent in the UK to former Russian dual agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. The countries that were informed of the expulsion of their diplomats are: Australia, Albania, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Finland, France, Croatia, The Czech Republic, Sweden and Estonia. The statement said Russia is considering the expulsion to a smaller extent of diplomats from Belgium, Hungary, Georgia and Montenegro. The Russian ministry did not cite NATO from where seven Russians were expelled.

Goran Adamovski