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Macedonia ready to join NATO: defence minister

Xinhua, October 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Macedonian Defence Minister Zoran Jolevski said on Thursday that Macedonia is ready to become immediately a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

"Macedonia has done a lot to achieve its strategic goals. We are prepared to become member of the Alliance immediately, a goal that is supported by all political factors and by the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia," Jolevski said while attending the southeastern Europe Defence ministerial meeting in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

During the meeting, Jolevski signed an agreement for military and financial cooperation with the Turkish Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz.

Jolevski held a meeting with a delegation from the Slovenian Defence Ministry and expressed his gratitude for the support of the Macedonian membership in NATO.

The use of the name Macedonia remains a controversial issue since Macedonia declared independence from former Yugoslavia in 1991. Greece opposed to the use of the name Macedonia by its northern neighbor, saying it implies territorial claims to Greece's northern province of the same name. As a result, Greece is blocking Macedonia's bid to join NATO, as well as the European Union, saying that Macedonia can be a member only if a solution to the name dispute is reached. Endit