Stoltenberg confirms invitation for membership to Macedonia

Secretary - General NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, confirmed that Macedonia will receive an invitation for membership in the alliance at the July 11th and 12th Summit, but will formally be part of it after all procedures for implementation of the name agreement are completed.

At the joint press conference with Prime Minister Zoran Zaev in Brussels, Stoltenberg said that given the current practice, negotiations for NATO membership last a year or a half.

I expect that at our summit in two weeks, heads of state and government invite you to start membership talks, and when all procedures within countries are completed to finalise the agreement, you will join NATO. This is a historic opportunity not to be lost. NATO door is open and you're on its doorstep”, Stoltenberg said, writes Top Channel.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev seized the opportunity presented and Stoltenberg's promise to call on Macedonians to vote positively in the referendum, to be held in the autumn, so that the name agreement can be finalised. He voiced confidence in that, saying that during his visit to NATO headquarters, he also saw the location where the Macedonian flag would be.

The agreement on resolving the Greek-Macedonian name problem and for strategic partnership with Greece unblocked our accession to NATO. Macedonia took the place it deserves. In just one year, our country achieved what no one could have predicted. Our approach with strong will, genuine dialogue, and readiness for solutions brought us much news and happy” decisions, Zaev said.

Meeting with Zaev, chief of NATO achieved Stoltenberg the day after meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. He had voiced Greece's support for its neighbour's integration into NATO, after the name agreement goes into effect.