TIRANA – NATO foreign ministers welcomed North Macedonia as the alliance’s newest member on Thursday, ending a long process that included a change to the country’s name, Reuters reported from Brussels on Thursday.
“We welcome North Macedonia as NATO’s 30th ally,” NATO foreign ministers said in a statement following a video conference, which North Macedonia’s minister was part of as a full member.
The flag of North Macedonia was raised at NATO Headquarters on 30 March 2020 in a special ceremony to mark the country’s accession to NATO with remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Chargé d’Affaires of the Delegation of North Macedonia to NATO, Zoran Todorov.
Flag raising ceremony were also held simultaneously at Allied Command Operations (SHAPE) in Mons (Belgium) and Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia (United States).
Standing alongside the Chargé d’Affaires of the Delegation of North Macedonia to NATO, Mr. Zoran Todorov, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “This is a historic moment for North Macedonia. It comes after years of perseverance, determination, and commitment to reform. In the best spirit of the Alliance, and through political courage and vision, North Macedonia and Greece reached a historic compromise over the name issue. The Prespa agreement made NATO accession possible. It has also contributed to good neighborly relations and a brighter future for North Macedonia. Your hard work has made today possible.”
“Joining NATO is good for North Macedonia. It is good for the stability of the Western Balkans and it is good for international peace and security,” Mr. Stoltenberg said.
In the meantime North Macedonia is using NATO’s Next-Generation Incident Command System (NICS) to coordinate its national response to the COVID-19 crisis and to provide its public with real-time information and advice, according to a report on NATO’s website dated March 27.
“The NICS system is part of the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) project “Advanced Regional Civil Emergency Coordination Pilot” (ARCECP), a collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL), the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia and Montenegro,” it was said in the report.
North Macedonia became the 30th member of the Alliance on Friday (27 March 2020), when it deposited its instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty with the US State Department in Washington DC./argumentum.al
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