NATO is committed to the stability and security of the Western Balkans, and to the Euro-Atlantic integration of those nations that aspire to join our Alliance. Your meeting with the North Atlantic Council today will provide you with an important opportunity to present the progress made in your reforms, including in the defence sector. . . .
We very much welcome your firm commitment to the NATO accession process. We have agreed to extend an invitation for you to join the alliance as soon as a mutually acceptable resolution to the name issue has been reached. And we stand by our commitments.
So we will continue to work closely with you. To support you in essential reform efforts, so that we can move quickly once the name issue is resolved. And we encourage you to continue your efforts to find a solution.
We all agree that NATO’s Open Door policy has made Europe more secure.
And we all agree that accession to the Alliance should be based on performance.
There is still work to be done. But our door remains open.
Excerpts from remarks by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen during press conference with Prime Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski.
Image: Prime Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (photo: NATO)