Radmila Šekerinska

With the signing of the joint declaration with NATO, the process of military integration of the Republic of North Macedonia in the command structures and in the structure of the Alliance forces will be officially completed today, the electronic edition of the Nezavisen newspaper notes.

Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, will pay a visit to Sofia before June 20th. This is what Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and PM Zaev agreed in Brussels.

Four F-16s from the 337th Hellenic Airforce Combat Wing accompanied a pair of American B-1B bombers on a mission to welcome North Macedonia into NATO by flying over the capital Skopje on Friday.

North Macedonia became the alliance's 30th member on March 27, following the settlement of its name dispute with Greece in 2018.

I came to reaffirm the strong US support for Northern Macedonia and its European path and perspective, "said Matthew Palmer, US Special Representative for the Western Balkans, during his visit to Skopje.

The accession of North Macedonia to NATO will contribute to the improvement of the security environment in the Balkans, National Defence Minister Gabriel Les stated on Tuesday, on the occasion of the visit to Bucharest of his counterpart of the Republic of North Macedonia Radmila Sekerinska-Jankovska.

In geopolitical terms, unlike many other Balkan countries, especially Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia did not see North Macedonia as part of its immediate strategic interests in the region.

As part of the anti-Gulen purges that followed the 2016 coup attempt, Turkey has called on North Macedonia and other Balkan states to close educational establishments allegedly affiliated with the Gulen movement and demanded greater action against it.

This will happen unless Skopje extradites 15 Turkish nationals Ankara accuses of taking part in a failed coup in 2016, the article said, citing Balkan Insight.

The defense ministers of Greece and Turkey, Evangelos Apostolakis and Hulusi Akar, said on Wednesday after talks in Brussels that technical teams from both countries will be tasked with drafting a framework of confidence-building measures in a bid to reduce tensions in the Aegean.

North Macedonia's defense minister, Radmila Sekerinska, says she's filled with pride as her country takes a seat at NATO's table for the first time.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday at a meeting of NATO defense ministers, Sekerinska said North Macedonia has "shown that change is possible if you have the right amount of political leadership."