NATO, Macedonia to sign accession protocol on Feb. 6

By Serife Cetin

BRUSSELS (AA) – NATO and Macedonia will sign an accession protocol on Wednesday, said the alliance's chief on Saturday.

“On 6 February we will write history: #NATO Allies will sign the accession protocol with the future Republic of North Macedonia together with FM @Dimitrov_Nikola,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in a tweet.

Parliaments of all member states need to ratify the accession protocol for Macedonian membership. During this process Macedonia will attend NATO meetings a guest.

Last week, Greece’s parliament ratified a historic deal to end the 28-year dispute over its neighbor Macedonia’s name, paving the way for the Balkan country to join NATO and the EU.

Under the deal, Macedonia will be renamed “the Republic of North Macedonia” and Greece will drop its objections to the country joining NATO and becoming a member of the European Union.

The name issue has kept Macedonia from joining the EU and NATO since its independence in 1991.

NATO invited Macedonia to begin accession talks to join the alliance at the Brussels Summit in July last year.