Stoltenberg: Macedonia could receive NATO invitation on July 11-12 Summit


NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said NATO hopes to start accession talks with Macedonia at the summit, which will be held in Brussels on July 11-12, after Macedonia reached name agreement with Greece.

“I hope that there will be progress with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia because they have reached an agreement with Greece on the name issue. If that agreement is finalized and fully implemented, the new name will be Republic of North Macedonia, and then we can move on when it comes to membership for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to NATO. I really hope that we can do so,” Stoltenberg said in an interview with France 24 television channel.

Asked whether there is a time frame for Macedonia’s membership, Stoltenberg said that it depends on finalization of the agreement in Skopje.

“But I hope that we can start accession talks, i.e. to decide on their start at the NATO summit in July, if everything goes as planned when it comes to ratification and the referendum that will be held later this year,” Stoltenberg said.