Northern Macedonia lands at NATO table, Stoltenberg welcomes

Northern Macedonia today sat down along with 29 NATO member states at the defence ministers' meeting in Brussels.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg received Defence Minister Radmila Sugarinska this morning. He said raising NATO's flag before the North Macedonian government is a major act, after which Macedonia's flag is also expected to wave close to 29 member states at NATO headquarters.

It's good that your country will not be addressed by its long and grave name, but we can say Republic of Northern Macedonia. This is a big moment for us. We really appreciate the progress you've made and that without the commitment and leadership of your government, we wouldn't be where we are at this ministerial meeting today. I saw yesterday that flag NATO stood before the Government of the Republic of Northern Macedonia, and I really expect the day when we will do the same, to raise your flag near 29 countries at NATO headquarters. This is a big day and I expect the day when we can have a full member when the ratification process is over in all 29 Alliance countries”, Stoltenberg said.