Reeker Underlines Importance of Macedonia’s NATO Membership

Former US Ambassador to Skopje Philip Reeker, who’s now in charge of Europe and Eurasia at the State Department, considers that the July elections showed that democracy in Macedonia is in a good position. Reeker participated in a panel discussion on Russia’s influence in countries in the eastern part of Europe, saying no country was fully safe. As he added, Russia’s harmful influence remains omnipresent and poses a challenge to both NATO members and countries that are not part of the Alliance. That can be seen, according to Reeker, in the US and was the case in Macedonia as well. The former Ambassador considers that Macedonia’s NATO membership is of huge importance to both the Alliance itself and the whole Western Balkans region. Everyone, he stressed, should work together to deal with and fight, as he pointed out, the harmful Russian influence. Reeker is fully confident that the Government in Skopje will continue to work on improving the country, focus on international relations, on the security, the stability that NATO membership brings.