France’s blockade i.e. the block by the French President Emmanuel Macron for the start of the accession negotiations with North Macedonia was very unfair and it caused major disappointment among Macedonian citizens answered Prime Minister Zoran Zaev after the conference NATO is engaging on the margins of the
current NATO leadership summit that is happening tomorrow in London.
-This very unfair as we have been candidates for the past 15 years when all 28 member countries confirmed in the Council of Europe that we have met the reforms, have found solutions for the issues with Greece and Bulgaria, we changed the country’s constitutional name and the EU’s decision that it needs more time was destabilizing for us. We were very disappointed, but we continued with the reforms and I’m hoping that this mistake will be corrected very soon – said Zaev.
He said that the country will reach the rate of 2 percent GDP for defense in 2024 and maybe sooner.
-In the last two years and a half we doubled the defense expenditures i.e. from 0.8% now we have reached to 1.3%, and our goal is to reach 2% by 2024. We may reach this rate earlier – said Zaev during the conference.
Prime MInister Zaev along with Ministers Shekjerinska, Dimitrov, and Vice Prime Minister Osmani is taking part in the summit of the NATO member countries’ leaders that is taking place tomorrow. On the margin there are bilateral meetings including the conference “NATO engages”.
