Albania won't block Macedonia's NATO accession: PM
Xinhua, July 27, 2015 Adjust font size:
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has said that his country will not use any veto against Macedonia's bid for NATO membership, Albanian Daily News reported Monday.
Rama underlined the importance of the Ohrid agreement -- a 2001 peace agreement signed between the Republic of Macedonia and ethnic Albanian representatives -- for pursuing integration.
"The last document in the Wales Summit had been agreed by all NATO members. It underlines the need of Macedonia to implement the Ohrid agreement as a basis for coexistence, harmony, peace and cooperation between Albanians and Macedonians, as well as a basis for strengthening Macedonia in order for it to be stable and to develop," he said.
The prime minister also called for "a transparent and independent" investigation into a gunbattle between police and local insurgents that happened earlier this year in Kumanovo, a northern Macedonian city situated 20 km from the country's capital Skopje.
In an operation by Macedonian police and armed forces on May 9, eight policemen and 10 armed insurgents were killed, while 37 officers were wounded. The shootout ended the next day with a full suppression of the insurgents, of whom 28 men were arrested and charged with terrorism. Endi