The President of the Republic of Maceronia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov is paying three-day working visit to Washington to attend the 59 National Prayer Breakfast, organized by the US Congress on Thursday.

President Ivanov today addressed the Atlantic Council in Washington on the topic “Why Macedonia needs NATO membership and why NATO needs Macedonia”.


President Ivanov stated that the desire for NATO membership has been uniting factor of the entire Macedonia's society, regardless of ethnic, religious and political affiliation, which is demonstrated by the fact that Macedonia’s membership into the Alliance enjoys support of over 90 percent of its citizens, underlined President Ivanov and assessed that Macedonia-NATO relations are tight because they are based on mutual trust and over 10-years of close contacts marked with upward trend. President Ivanov expressed his hope that the ties will be crowned with meritorious accession of Macedonia to NATO.


Elaborating why NATO needs Macedonia, President Ivanov said that there could be no stable Europe without stable South-East Europe (SEE). The lessons from the past have shown that there could be no stable SEE without stable Macedonia, whose long-term stability depends on its membership in the club of democratic, prosperous Euro-Atlantic nations, President Ivanov said, adding that without Macedonia’s security and stability, the security and stability of the Balkans and the SEE region is hard to imagine.


Macedonia's accession to NATO, according to President Ivanov, will eliminate the existing security vacuum, bringing the Alliance closer to turning its goals into reality - Europe whole and free, Europe that shares same values.


President Ivanov pointed out the fact that at the moment the Republic of Macedonia is sharing same responsibilities with NATO countries, but is not enjoying the same rights and privileges deriving from NATO membership only because of one irrational dispute. We strongly believe that dialogue, trust and better understanding will result in reaching mutually acceptable solution. We are ready but we need your help, President Ivanov said to the leadership of this reputable think-thank organization.

President Ivanov stressed that for Macedonia, in spite of its disappointment for not joining the club after meeting all necessary criteria, membership into the Alliance is a priority and remains high on Macedonia's agenda and it cannot be overshadowed by the attitude of one NATO member state.






The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov today had a meeting with Senators John McCain and James Inhofe and with Assistant State Secretary, Thomas Countryman.

Macedonia must assume its deserved place in NATO as soon as possible, U.S. Senator John McCain told President Ivanov at the meeting. Senator McCain saluted the excellent relations between Macedonia and the United States, stressing the importance of the country's accession to the Alliance for regional stability and prosperity, as well as Macedonia's role and contribution in international security. At the meeting with the Macedonian President, the Senator also thanked for Macedonia's support in Iraq and Afghanistan peacekeeping missions.