The conditionality doesn’t change the fact – there are EU and NATO invitations and accession talks dates

By Тео Блажевски On Jul 13, 2018 0

Naum Stoilkovski, VMRO-DPMNE’s spokesperson. Photo: VMRO-DPMNE’s website

VMRO-DPMNE’s stance that the Macedonian diplomacy has failed and that Macedonia is not becoming a NATO member state and doesn’t have EU talks start date yet, voiced by party’s spokesperson Naum Stoilkovski, is not true

VMRO-DPMNE’s spokesperson Naum Stoilkovski made a statement announcing his party’s position on Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration after the NATO Ministers meeting yesterday in Brussels:

…The Macedonian diplomacy failed utterly and somebody has to be held responsible. Just as there aren’t results in a segment of the country’s life, in the real economy, healthcare, education, there isn’t any progress in the agriculture, so too there is no progress in the integration processes. Zoran Zaev [Macedonia’s PM –Ed.] and his government garner only defeats, there is no single victory.

Today, Macedonia wasn’t lauded, it was slapped across the face.

Therefore, the first step that the government must make is the resignation of Nikola Dimitrov, who alongside with Zoran Zaev, led the country to a dead end…

Macedonia is not becoming a NATO member state, Macedonia has no EU talks date…

[Source: VMRO-DPMNE – Spokesperson statement, date: 11 July 2018]

EXPLANATION:

VMRO-DPMNE’s stance that the Macedonian diplomacy has failed and that Macedonia is not becoming NATO member state and doesn’t have EU talks start date yet, voiced by party’s spokesperson Naum Stoilkovski, is not true.

The facts can be verified by running a simple check of the documents and written texts of both organizations from the NATO Summit, held yesterday and today in Brussels, and the EU Summit, held in late June this year.

NATO Summit’s written conclusion, which was adopted and formulated one day prior the Ministers meeting of NATO member states and was made known to the Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and to the entire public, clearly states that the Republic of Macedonia is invited to join the Alliance, however, the accession process will be completed only after Macedonia has fulfilled its obligations deriving from the Agreement with Greece, that is, success of the referendum on the Agreement and amending the Constitution in accordance with the provisions on amending the constitutional name and certain articles of the Constitution.

In fact, this condition, besides the other three (Item 44 of the conclusions of the Council of the European Union) constitute the prerequisites for EU talks date.

In addition, both the domestic and world media outlets reporting on these two events, NATO and EU Summit, stated about the same thing: Macedonia received an invitation to start the accession negotiations, as well as to join the defense alliance of western democracies. Indeed, the invitations for joining the two organizations are conditioned by fulfilling the obligations arising from the Agreement with Greece, but that doesn’t change the fact that the invitation and the date exist.

And since they exist, it’s completely clear that the alleged diplomatic crash is nowhere near the truth, because after so many years of waiting (to join NATO since 2008 and EU since 2006/2007), this is the first breakthrough in the Euro-Atlantic integrations of Macedonia. That’s far away from and completely opposes VMRO-DPMNE’s assessment that “today, Macedonia wasn’t lauded, it was slapped across the face”.

In light of the aforesaid arguments, we deem VMRO-DPMNE’s stances, exposed in the party’s spokesperson’s statement, as not true.

SOURCES:

VMRO-DPMNE – Веб сајт, изјава на Стоилковски – [Accessed on 12 July 2018]
NATO Summit 2018 – Relations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – [Accessed on 12 July 2018]
Council of the European Union – Council conclusions on enlargement and stabilisation and association process – [Accessed on 12 July 2018]
Google– Keyword search – [Accessed on 12 July 2018]
E-Magazin – Поканата за Македонија од НАТО во… – [Accessed on 12 July 2018]
Time.mk – Keyword search – [Accessed on 12 July 2018]

Assessed by: Teo Blazhevski

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This article was created within the framework of the Project to increase the accountability of the politicians and political parties Truthmeter implemented by Metamorphosis. The article is made possible by the generous support of the National Endowment for Democracy(NED) and The Balkan Trust for Democracy (BTD), a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, an initiative that supports democracy, good governance, and Euroatlantic integration in Southeastern Europe. The content is the responsibility of its author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Metamorphosis, National Endowment for Democracy, the Balkan Trust for Democracy, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, or its partners.