SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
The Sec Gen of NATO Jens Stoltenberg congratulated via Twitter the Macedonian PM Zoran Zaev on the adoption of the Prespa Agreement by the Macedonian Parliament. “I congratulate PM Zaev on the adoption of the Prespa Agreement. NATO keeps on supporting the full implementation of this agreement which is important for the stability of the entire Balkan region,” Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter. The US State Secretary mike Pompeo announced that the US welcomes the decision of the Macedonian Parliament. “Macedonian leaders demonstrated courage and visionary thinking by resolving the name dispute which obstructed the country’s integration in NATO and EU,” Pompeo said. In statement for Macedonian media, US Ambassador to Macedonia Jess Baily also congratulated PM Zaev on the adoption of the agreement. “The US welcomes the courage of the political leaders and MPs in the Parliament demonstrated in this decision-making process. We are impatiently waiting to welcome Macedonia in NATO as its 30th member-state,” Baily said. Words of congratulations also came from British PM Theresa May and the Secretary of the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jeremy Hunt, with May tweeting that this is a positive and historic moment for Macedonia. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also published a tweet congratulating the Macedonian Parliament on the Prespa Agreement adoption, while the university professor and expert on politics in the Balkans Daniel Server Serwer said in a statement for MIA that Macedonia has fulfilled all obligations from the Prespa Agreement and that now it is Greece’s turn to adopt the Prespa Agreement and the protocol for integration of Macedonia in NATO. Albanian President Ilir Meta and Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati also commented on the adoption of the agreement on social networks, estimating it as historically very important decision which guarantees the security of the entire Balkan region, while Kosovo PM Ramush Haradinaj, who personally met PM Zoran Zaev in Pristina, said Albanian politicians in Macedonia played a crucial role in the entire process. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva said that Bulgaria welcomes the adoption of the Prespa Agreement, adding that Macedonia’s membership in NATO and EU, i.e. its security and stability are a national interest of Bulgaria, and that Macedonia should keep on nurturing good relations with neighbouring countries if it wants to fully integrate in NATO and EU. Support for the Prespa Agreement adoption was also voiced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, praising the political maturity demonstrated by Skopje.
