Russian Foreign Ministry: Western countries are aiming to drag Macedonia into NATO at any cost


Western countries are aiming to drag Macedonia into NATO even after a referendum on changing the country’s name was held there, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Thursday, TASS reports.

“The continuation of heavy-handed outside interference in Macedonia’s internal affairs is evident,” Zakharova stressed. “The goal is obvious – to drag Macedonia into the alliance at any cost.”

The diplomat recalled that on September 30, Macedonia held a referendum on changing its name, which has been declared invalid.

“Despite the fact that leading politicians in the EU and NATO member-states openly urged Macedonian citizens to vote in favor [of changing its name], which, we believe is a totally unacceptable practice, all this ended in failure,” Zakharova pointed out. “However, they welcomed its results without batting an eyelid. In particular, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg promised to grant Skopje membership in the alliance as early as the beginning of 2019, leaving no doubt that the parliaments of Macedonia and Greece would pass the required decisions,” TASS reports.

Russia’s position remains principled and unchanged – two countries to find a long-term solution to the problem, without interference and pressures from outside, because it showed that this does not help.

“If we refer to non-interference in internal affairs, then we must not agitate ‘for’ and ‘against’ if we speak about referendums. If we talk about non-interference in the internal affairs and respect of the law, including international laws, then a head of an alliance of states must not speak about a decision that should be passed by the parliament of a country,” Zakharova stated.

Zakharova also said she was surprised by the findings of the OSCE referendum observation mission in Macedonia, Sputnik reports.

“The great propaganda campaign of the West is presented in a positive way. It’s not just normal, it’s also a plus. What would happen if Moscow urged the Macedonians to vote? It would have been understood immediately as interfering in the internal affairs. These are not just double standards, but abuse of social rules and norms,” Zakharova added.