North Macedonia is a member state of theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In 1995, the country joined thePartnership for Peace. It then began taking part in various NATO missions, including theInternational Security Assistance Force and theResolute Support Mission inAfghanistan. At the2008 Bucharest summit,Greece vetoed the country's invitation to join; however,NATO member states agreed that the country would receive an invitation upon resolution of theMacedonia naming dispute.[1] Followingan agreement in June 2018 to rename the country, representatives of NATO member states signed a protocol on theaccession of North Macedonia to NATO on 6 February 2019.[2] Over the next thirteen months, all of NATO's 29 member states ratified the protocol. The accession protocol entered into force on 19 March 2020, allowing North Macedonia to deposit its instrument of accession and thereby become NATO's 30th member state on 27 March 2020.
Macedonian troops have participated with NATO security missions includingISAF in Afghanistan andKFOR in Kosovo.[3]
The then-Republic of Macedonia joined thePartnership for Peace in 1995 and commenced itsMembership Action Plan in 1999 at the Washington Summit, at the same time as eight other countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia). Macedonia was part of theVilnius Group and formed theAdriatic Charter with Croatia and Albania in 2003 to better coordinate NATO accession.[4]
At the2008 Bucharest summit,Greece vetoed the Republic of Macedonia's invitation to join over theMacedonia naming dispute, however, NATO nations agreed that the country would receive an invitation upon resolution of the disagreement.[1] Greece felt that its neighbour's constitutional name implies territorial aspirations againstits own region of Macedonia. The Republic of Macedonia sued Greece in theInternational Court of Justice over their veto of Macedonia's NATO membership, citing their 1995 interim accord that allowed Macedonia to join international organizations under the name "the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", which is how NATO, with the exception of Turkey, recognized their bid.[6] Greece counterargued that it was a collective decision of NATO not to invite the Republic of Macedonia, and therefore the interim accord signed between the two countries was not violated. The ICJ ruled in December 2011 that Greece was wrong to have blocked its neighbor's bid, finding them in breach of the agreement. Greece also blocked the Republic of Macedonia's start of negotiations onaccession to the European Union over the naming dispute.[7]
Then–United States Secretary of StateHillary Clinton asked the Republic of Macedonia and Greece to find an "acceptable solution" to the dispute, so that the Republic of Macedonia would be free to join NATO.[8] In 2014, prior to the 65th anniversary of its founding, NATO announced that it would not be offering any new countries membership in the organisation that year. Some analysts, such as Jorge Benitez of theAtlantic Council think tank, argued that this reluctance was partly due to the new security climate afterRussia's annexation of Crimea.[9] There has been continued debate about how Russia will view the republic's accession.[10]
On 12 June 2017, Prime MinisterZoran Zaev signaled he would consider alternative names for the country in order to strike a compromise with Greece, settle the naming dispute, and lift Greek objections to Macedonia joining the alliance. Zaev also floated the idea of Macedonia joining the alliance under the provisional name it used at the United Nations.[12] The naming dispute was resolved with thePrespa Agreement in June 2018 under which the country adopted the name North Macedonia, which was supported bya referendum in September 2018. On 11 July 2018, NATO invited the republic to begin membership talks, saying the country could join the organisation once the naming agreement had been implemented.[13] Formal accession talks began on 18 October 2018.[14] On 6 February 2019, the permanent representatives to NATO of the member states signed a protocol on the accession of North Macedonia to NATO.[2]
North Macedonia commemorates its accession to NATO at the US Department of State on 27 March 2020
Macedonian Prime MinisterZoran Zaev, speaking alongside NATO Secretary-GeneralJens Stoltenberg inSkopje on 3 June 2019, said that he expected the ratification process to be finalised by the end of October.[15] By that time North Macedonia was expected to join NATO in early 2020, with the alliance publicly reassuring the country its accession would go ahead.[16] North Macedonia was given a seat at the2019 London summit alongside other NATO members and was represented by a delegation headed by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.[17] On 11 February 2020, the MacedonianSobranie unanimously approved theNorth Atlantic Treaty, with 114 votes in favour, no abstentions and no opposition.[18][19] Due toits political crisis, Spain was the last country to ratify the accession protocol, which it did on 19 March 2020.[19][17] North Macedonia subsequently signed the instrument of accession and became a member state on 27 March 2020.[20][21][22]
On 9 December 2021, a ceremony was held atSkopje Airport to mark the inclusion of North Macedonia in the NATO Air Policing system.[23]
Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty on the Accession of the Republic of North Macedonia[25] Macedonian: Протокол кон Северноатлантскиот договор за пристапување на Република Северна Македонија
Entry into force of the accession treaty after ratification by all current NATO members. Membership of North Macedonia starts after deposit of its instrument of accession after the treaty has entered into force.
^The treaty was laid before the House of Commons on 18 March 2019, and the last day a negative resolution could be passed was 19 June 2019.
^In the United Kingdom, there is no requirement for a formal law approving of treaties before their ratification, but thePonsonby Rule is that they are laid before Parliament with an explanatory memorandum.[95] The treaty was laid before parliament on 27 June 2019, and the last day a negative resolution could be passed was 25 September 2019.
Anti-NATO graffiti inOhrid in July 2018, translating to "NATO are killers. I am the salvation of Macedonia. #Boycott."
During theKosovo War of 1999, the Macedonian government maintained a pro-NATO position.[101] A majority of the population of the Republic of Macedonia criticised the government stance and opposed NATO intervention in Kosovo due to fears overirredentism fromethnic Albanians within the country, the unstable economy, disruption of trade brought about by war, and Slavic solidarity with Serbs.[102] Prime MinisterLjubčo Georgievski stated during the war that anti-NATO sentiment was the "second biggest threat" to the country after the arrival of Albanian refugees from Kosovo.[103] The country's Albanian population supported NATO and its intervention to assist the Albanians of Kosovo.[101]
In 2008, a poll following the NATO summit showed that 82.5% of ethnic Macedonian citizens opposed changing their country's constitutional name in order to join NATO.[104] NATO membership in general in 2008 was supported by 85.2% of the population.[105] Elections were called following the 2008 summit, resulting in further support for the center-right pro-NATO party,VMRO-DPMNE. The elections were marred by violence that attracted criticism from NATO members.[106]
In a statewide 2010 survey, 80.02% of respondents said they would vote for the Republic of Macedonia to become part of NATO if a referendum on accession were to take place.[107] In another survey, some 65% of ethnic Macedonians expressed that they opposed a name change of the state as being the price for NATO membership.[107]
In a 2016 poll, some 68% of ethnic Macedonians supported joining NATO, possibly under the FYROM name.[108] Albanians of North Macedonia harbour strongly pro-NATO sentiments.[109]
North Macedonia's foreign relations with NATO member states
^"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived(PDF) from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved25 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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