NATO ups the pressure as name deal heads to FYROM Parliament
With the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s Parliament set to vote on the name deal with Greece on October 16, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg repeated on Monday that without its ratification, the Balkan nation will not be able to join the alliance.
“There is no plan B,” Stoltenberg said in Belgrade during a joint press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, in response to a question about the political turmoil between the deal’s proponents and opponents in FYROM following last month’s referendum.
Opponents of the deal said the referendum’s low turnout rendered the deal invalid.
According to reports, voting will begin in FYROM’s Parliament next Tuesday to approve the constitutional changes required for the agreement’s ratification.
FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told Euronews that he is in talks with lawmakers representing the ethnic Albanian community, among others, in order to get the deal through Parliament.
