Today, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that only Macedonia and the 29 Alliance members can decide on the country’s membership in the Alliance, reported MIA.
At a press conference the day before the meeting between NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Secretary-General Stoltenberg asked to comment on the statements of the Russian ambassador to Macedonia that the country would become a “legitimate target” in the event of a conflict, if it became a NATO member, and said it was a show of force.
“The whole idea that Russia will not accept certain countries to become NATO members is an idea of the spheres of influence where the great powers are controlling the smaller states and that is in contradiction of everything NATO stands for. First, I think that it is important that every nation has the right to decide its own path and security arrangements; this is a fundamental principle for NATO. It is up to Skopje to decide its own path and whether it wants to join NATO. Macedonia and the 29 NATO allies decide on this, and nobody else has a say in this process”, replied Stoltenberg.
According to the MIA correspondent, Stoltenberg said that he welcomes the progress in negotiations over the name dispute and is being informed about it.