North Macedonia marks NATO Day on Monday as the 30th full member of the Alliance. Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said at the ceremony that the country is a factor for stability and security in the region where citizens have a secure future.
In his address, Kovachevski said that the country needs predictable, credible, strengthened and accelerated EU integration processes, because the issue of enlargement is already a geostrategic and security issue and that the Euro-integration processes should begin without delay.
“The process of NATO integration has been a long one, but now in crisis we see how much it means to be a country whose security is guaranteed by the largest security and defense alliance. We continue motivated and determined to achieve our second strategic goal – EU membership. We have the full support of the United States and our European partners and we highly appreciate the messages for accelerating the opening of accession talks with the EU,” Kovachevski said.
US Ambassador to Macedonia Kate Byrnes praised N. Macedonia for volunteering to share the burden of the war in Ukraine, standing shoulder to shoulder with its allies and neighbors.
