Bulgaria’s government approves Macedonia’s Nato accession protocol
The Bulgarian Cabinet, at a regular meeting on January 30, approved the Nato accession protocol of the Republic of Macedonia to Nato, the government information service said.
At a forthcoming meeting of ambassadors of Nato member states, Macedonia’s accession protocol is expected to be signed.
This was expected this week or early next week, the Foreign Minister in Skopje, Nikola Dimitrov, was reported as saying by the Independent Balkan News Agency.
The former Yugoslav republic’s path to Nato membership has been smoothed following ratification of the Prespa Agreement, which envisages changing the country’s name to Republic of North Macedonia, by the legislatures in Skopje and Athens.
Nato invited Macedonia to begin membership talks in July 2018, but progress towards membership has previously been blocked by Greece because of the long-standing dispute between Athens and Skopje over the former Yugoslav republic’s use of the name “Republic of Macedonia”.
Media reports have said that following the approval of the Prespa Agreement by both countries’ parliaments, Greece would be the first to sign its neighbour’s Nato accession protocol.
