CORRECTS- N.Macedonia meets standards for membership: NATO chief

CORRECTS HEADLINE; CHANGES DECK, LEDE

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - North Macedonia will become a full-fledged member of NATO if the ratification of the accession protocol with the country will finish by December, the block’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

Stoltenberg told reporters that North Macedonia would become a full-fledged member at the London Summit if the protocol was completed.

His remarks came a day before the start of a two-day NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels, where North Macedonia's Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska is also taking part.

"It’s not up to me, it’s up to the 28 [29] national parliaments to decide how fast they can ratify the accession protocol. It would be great if all could finish by December when we have the leaders meeting of NATO in London in December, but if not, I expect that to happen soon after,” he said.

Stoltenberg stressed that North Macedonia meets all standards for NATO membership.

According to him, the membership of North Macedonia in NATO is a signal that the policy of "open doors" is functioning successfully.

"The NATO enlargement is a great success story. It has helped to spread democracy, stability, prosperity across Europe and now the latest new member will be North Macedonia. All Allies signed the accession protocol …," Stoltenberg said.

During the two-day meeting, the defense ministers will discuss Russia’s violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, progress on burden sharing, NATO’s defense and deterrence posture, new technologies and NATO’s mission in Afghanistan.

*Fatih Hafız Mehmet from Ankara contributed to the story