Olechenko: Russia should avoid becoming NATO’s donor via North Macedonia

Moscow should think strategically about future economic cooperation with Skopje, where both presidential candidates competing in the second round of election support the country’s accession to NATO and EU, senior research fellow at the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations at the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Olenchenko told TASS on Monday. “Russian leadership and business should strategically consider how to further develop their relations with North Macedonia. There is an economic aspect to this issue, in addition to the political dimension. Expanding trade and investment should be beneficial for all parties. In this case, benefits may end up with NATO, since Alliance’s members are required to contribute 2 % of their respective GDPs to NATO’s budget. Whether we want to become NATO’s donors is the question to keep in mind when considering some aspects of bilateral relations,” Plechenko said.