During the evening of Wednesday 11 July, the commissioner for enlargement negotiations, Johannes Hahn, welcomed NATO’s invitation to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to begin talks on accession to the Alliance as soon as the provisions of the agreement on name are complied with.
The invitation, Hahn tweeted, is “well deserved recognition for the historic agreement with Greece as a contribution to peace and stability in Europe”.
Several hours earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had officially announced the invitation for Skopje to join the Alliance. “We agreed to invite the government of Skopje to begin accession talks. Once all national procedures have been completed for finalising the agreement on name, the country will join NATO as the 30th member – under its new name, the Republic of North Macedonia”, he told the press.
In their declaration published after the first day’s work, on 11 July, the leaders warn: “Full implementation of all prescribed internal procedures with respect to the agreement on the solution of the name issue is a condition for a successful conclusion of the accession process”. Stoltenberg explained: “There is no way to join NATO without changing name (...) That in some ways is the simplest choice. And it is up to the population of the FYROM to make that choice”, while Macedonians must express themselves in a referendum for agreement on the name. Implementation of the agreement is also a condition that must be met if FYROM can open accession talks to the EU.
“We encourage further efforts on reform before and after accession in order to enhance the country’s contribution to the Alliance”, the leaders say in their declaration. They also underline: “We appreciate Skopje’s steadfast support for NATO’s operations and missions and ongoing contributions to international security”.
In 2008, during the Bucharest summit, NATO members had decided to invite FYROM to join the Alliance as soon as a mutually acceptable solution had been found to the question of name, within the framework of the UN. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)