The President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, participated today in the debate “The Role of the Republic of North Macedonia in NATO: Goals, Challenges and Opportunities”, organized by the Info Center for Euro-Atlantic Integration, held at the Faculty of Security in Skopje.
At the debate which was also attended by the US Ambassador Kate Mary Burns, President Pendarovski addressed the benefits of the future membership of the Republic of North Macedonia in NATO, citing solidarity, democracy, freedom and pluralism as key values of the Alliance.
The President emphasized that every country that became a NATO member, after joining the Alliance, did not become a dictatorship, but remained a democracy and improved its democratic performances.
He stressed that although it is a military-political organization, freedom as a value is very important, as seen in the Freedom House indicators.
“Freedom House assessments on freedom and democracy in the United States or Great Britain or Germany are better today than they were 40 years ago. Thus, the democracies we learn from today are becoming better over time because they are in an organization that respects these values”, President Pendarovski said, adding that this is very important for small states that are members or want to become members of the Alliance.
President Pendarovski also referred to pluralism as an important value of NATO, which allows each state to have a voice in the key NATO body, the North Atlantic Council, which makes the most difficult decisions on war and peace.
President Pendarovski stressed that our entry into NATO would contribute and complete the regional security of the so-called South Wing of the Alliance.
“Albania to the west is already a member of the Alliance, Bulgaria to the east as well, Greece to the south, and Kosovo has had NATO troops since 1999 in a significant number at their main camp Bondsteel. So, our entry into the Alliance would definitely stabilize the Alliance’s southern wing, which is extremely important for the security of the two most important wider security regions, the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin”, President Pendarovski said.
The Info Center for Euro-Atlantic Integration is a project implemented by the Citizen’s Association MOST and is supported by the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the British Embassy in Skopje and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia.
