I have to be honest with you and it’s no good to lie to you – there is no Plan B and no entry into NATO until the name dispute is resolved, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on three different occasions, while answering journalist’s questions as to whether it is possible for the country to be accepted under its temporary reference, at today’s press conference after the meeting with Prime Minister Zoran Zaev in the Government building.
Stoltenberg also pointed out several times that NATO is a political alliance that defines the decisions which are done with consensus.
He said that it is very important to speed up and complete the reforms that they have begun.
“It’s not easy, but it can be done. So I urge all parties to work constructively for the benefit of all your people. I call on the government to cooperate with the opposition and vice versa. I encourage you to continue on the path of reform, we want you to succeed. We want to see your country as the heart of a democratic and prosperous region. Prime Minister, we want to support you”, said Stoltenberg.
When asked by journalists whether Moscow’s expansionist policy imagined member states to change the principle of decision-making and Macedonia’s admission to the Alliance, in order to prevent Russian aspirations, Stoltenberg repeated that he does not want to give false hope and that without a mutually accepted solution regarding the name dispute with Greece, there is no chance of joining the North Atlantic Alliance.
When asked why NATO ignores the Hague’s verdict in favor of Macedonia, Stoltenberg said that it was a legal judgment, and that NATO was a political alliance.
“That was a court verdict, and this is a political decision. NATO as a political alliance is based on consensus. Changing a decision and making a new one requires a consensus from everybody. It would not be honest of me if I tell you that there are conditions for changing the decision”,said Stoltenberg.
