"Close non-bloc zone": what could be behind the US decision to accept Northern Macedonia in NATO

US President Donald Trump passed to the Senate a protocol on the accession of North Macedonia to NATO. This is reported on the White House website. In a statement by the head of state, it is noted that the accession of this country to the alliance is "in the strategic interests" of the United States.

The protocol was signed on February 6, 2019 in Brussels at NATO headquarters. Now it must be ratified by 29 member countries of the alliance.

Earlier, the Permanent Representative of the United States under the Alliance, Kay Bailey Hutchison, stated that Northern Macedonia will become a full member of NATO this fall. By that time, according to the Permanent Representative, ratification of the protocol by all members of the organization is expected, RIA Novosti reports.

Long road to nato

The document was submitted to the Senate on the day when a conference on the development of the situation in the Western Balkans began in Berlin, analysts note. This event was held at the initiative of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, reports TASS. In addition to them, heads of state and government of Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and the unrecognized republic of Kosovo take part in the conference.

Merkel and Macron did not report when in their countries they would begin to ratify the protocol on the accession of Northern Macedonia to NATO. But at the same time, the German Chancellor praised the official Skopje for “bold steps” in resolving the renaming dispute, TASS reports.

Recall that Macedonia joined the action plan regarding NATO membership in 1999.

“Even then, the country very actively supported the alliance. In March — June 1999, Macedonia provided its bases, airfields, roads for NATO forces that attacked the territory of Yugoslavia, ”said Elena Guskova, member of the Senate of the Republika Srpska, in an interview with RT.

However, neighboring Greece has for a long time prevented entry into the alliance. Athens did not like the name of the former Yugoslav Republic, since in Greece there is a region called Macedonia.

• Signing the protocol on the accession of Northern Macedonia to NATO
• Reuters
• © Francois Lenoir / Pool

The dispute between the two countries was settled in 2018. On June 17, they signed a treaty in the Macedonian city of Prespa. According to this document, Greece lifted its veto on the accession of the neighboring country to NATO. Instead, Macedonia had to change its name.

This decision caused protests in the country. In September 2018, a national referendum was held in Macedonia. He was asked whether to sign an agreement with Greece regarding NATO membership at the cost of abandoning the name of the country. Most of the participants in the referendum boycotted him at the call of the opposition. However, since this will was of a consultative nature, MPs still voted for an agreement with Greece.

On January 11, 2019, the Constitution was amended, and the country became known as Northern Macedonia. February 6 signed an agreement on the country's accession to NATO. As a result, Greece became the first member of the alliance to ratify this document.

According to experts, this agreement would have been impossible without the efforts of the NATO leadership. The military value of Macedonia is small, they note, since the number of the army of this Balkan country does not exceed 8 thousand people, and it is armed and trained not in the best way.

“However, this is not important for the alliance. NATO seeks to completely “close” the last major non-aligned zone in Europe located in the Balkans. It now includes Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Northern Macedonia, ”said RT Engegardt researcher at the Institute of Slavonic Studies.

He noted that Brussels and Washington pressed on the official Skopje with the help of a “simple reception”.

“It is explained that accession to NATO and the European Union are interconnected. Without one there can be no other. This was explained to the leadership of Northern Macedonia, and the result needed by NATO was obtained, ”said Engelhardt.

The second argument used in Washington is a bet on the Albanian minority living in Macedonia, experts say. Guskova recalls that separatist sentiments are quite strong among the local Albanians. In 2001, there were even armed clashes between representatives of this minority and the Macedonian army.

“The Albanian community of Macedonia is now a staunch supporter of European integration. The Macedonian Albanians themselves said that they were not striving for independence, because when they join NATO and the European Union they would become brothers from all of Europe, including neighboring Kosovo and Albania, ”the expert says.

Serbian question

Experts believe that the entry of North Macedonia into NATO will have an impact on the northern neighbors of this state.

“For Serbia, freedom of maneuver will be complicated. Those political and economic resources that were used by the United States to involve North Macedonia in NATO will be redirected to it, and even more to Bosnia and Herzegovina. These are the last two countries in Southern Europe that are not members of the alliance, ”says Engelhardt.

• Macedonians rally against agreement with Greece
• AFP
• © Robert ATANASOVSKI /

In his opinion, as soon as the procedure for incorporating Northern Macedonia into the alliance is completed, NATO will focus its efforts on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Washington will need to do something with the opinion of one of the country's communities, with the Serbs. The Republika Srpska, which is part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is firmly opposed to joining NATO. Because of this, more than six months have passed since the parliamentary elections, the country cannot form a government, ”Engelhardt reminds.

In the future, pressure will be exerted on Serbia, experts say. Now Belgrade declares that it intends to adhere to neutrality and is not going to join any military bloc.

“The people of Serbia do not want NATO membership. Military neutrality is our natural choice, ”TASS reports the words of Serbian President Alexander Vucic, said on March 24 at a ceremony in memory of the victims of NATO bombings.

This position is explained by the mood in the Serbian people, who are extremely negative about the idea of ​​joining the alliance, experts say.

“But NATO is very actively trying to interact with Serbia, even conducting exercises there. Washington hopes that through this cooperation it will still be possible to attract the country to closer relations with the alliance, ”says Guskova.

She believes that objectively the expansion of NATO at the expense of the Balkans is anti-Russian.

“In fact, the strategic interest of the United States lies primarily in the fact that gradually all Slavic Balkan countries should become members of NATO and turn their backs on Russia. With the expansion of the alliance in the Balkans, the United States shows Moscow that its former allies are no longer those, ”Guskova notes.