North Macedonia has completed integration into NATO: Defense minister

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - North Macedonia has fulfilled all conditions and from Tuesday will be fully militarily integrated into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the country’s defense minister said.

Radmila Sekerinska said at a press conference that the "test period" for her country's membership in the alliance ended with the final integration conference between North Macedonia and NATO.

With this conference and Tuesday's signing of the declaration, North Macedonia "literally completes military integration with NATO and becomes an equal member in all military parts of the alliance," she noted.

“We have shown that we can meet defined goals even given a very ambitious agenda and deliver expected results. This, in a way, ends our ‘test period’ in NATO. We have fulfilled the conditions for military integration and we will continue with joint NATO planning," Sekerinska said.

The process for North Macedonia’s military integration into NATO began two and a half years ago when it was invited to join, and it became a full member of the alliance in March 2020.