Vilnius, 11 July 2023 (MIA) – In his doorstep statement at the start of the 2023 NATO Vilnius Summit on Tuesday, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said decisions regarding the regional aspects of defence, moving Ukraine closer to NATO, as well as defining a defence investment pledge will be some of the decisions that Allies will make at the two-day NATO Summit. 

 

PM Kovachevski heads the North Macedonia delegation, also including Defence Minister Slavjanka Petrovska and Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, MIA reports from Vilnius.

 

"This is an extremely important meeting. It comes at an important time when there is practically a war going on in Ukraine. The meeting comes after the Summit in Madrid, which was attended by the Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs, as well as NATO Headquarters representatives, and important conclusions are expected from it," said the PM. 

 

 

He noted that decisions will first be made regarding the regional aspects of defence, both on land and air, as well as the aspects of cyber defence and hybrid attacks. A set of decisions is planned regarding cooperation with Ukraine, he added, pointing out that a NATO-Ukraine Council will be set up for future decisions on joint cooperation in terms of financing increased defence needs. 

 

"As regards future cooperation with Ukraine, North Macedonia has a very clear position. As the 30th member, we always support an open door to joining NATO, but of course after all the security aspects of the current moment are taken into account. NATO showed that it is united as never before and a big decision has been made that Sweden will be the 32nd NATO member," Kovachevski said.  

 

He stressed that Allies made a big decision opening the NATO doors to Sweden, which is set to become NATO's 32nd member after Monday's meeting of Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, thus overcoming the months-long deadlock. 

 

According to Kovachevski, Allies are also expected to agree on a more ambitious defence investment pledge, where 2% of GDP for defence will be a minimum, a commitment since the 2014 Wales Summit, as well as at most 20% of the budget to go for modernization.

 

"North Macedonia already invests 30 percent of the defence budget for that," he noted, adding that he expects a successful meeting. 

 

In addition, Kovachevski said that he will meet with his Estonian counterpart Kaja Kallas on Tuesday, while a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is scheduled for Wednesday, as well as separate meetings with Indo-Pacific leaders.  

 

The Summit brings together 48 foreign delegations, including 40 heads of state and government and over 150 high-ranking officials. Besides NATO member states' leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, the Summit will also host the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and the European Union.

 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda will provide the Summit's opening remarks.

 

Speaking at the start of the two-day Summit in Vilnius, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said the Summit was a historic one given that all Allies including Türkiye made an agreement that ensures that Sweden will become a full-fledged member of the Alliance. 

 

 

The Summit, Stoltenberg stressed, will send a clear message to Ukraine that NATO stands by Ukraine for as long as it takes and expects Allies to reiterate their commitment to provide military support to Ukraine to help them liberate more land. 

 

He mentioned that he has proposed a package of three elements with more practical support in terms of moving Ukraine closer to NATO, with a multi-year program to ensure full interoperability between the Ukrainian forces and the NATO forces. He also noted that the NATO-Ukraine Council will be established with an inaugural meeting on Wednesday, and then the requirement for Membership Action Plan will be removed, turning the membership process for Ukraine from a two-step process into a one-step process. 

 

Allies are also expected to make important decisions to further strengthen deterrence and defence with new defence plans and more forces on high readiness, and agree on a defence investment pledge, where 2% of GDP for defence will be a minimum. Stoltenberg also welcomed Indo-Pacific Partners at the summit, pointing out that their presence demonstrates that security is not regional but global.

 

The most imminent task now, Stoltenberg said, is to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation in Europe, so the most important thing we can do is to continue to provide weapons, ammunition, military support to Ukraine because unless Ukraine prevails as a democratic nation in Europe, there is no issue to be discussed about security guarantees or membership in NATO at all. 

 

As regards possible placement of Russian nuclear warheads in Belarus, Stoltenberg said Russia must know that nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought. 

 

"NATO Allies of course monitor closely what Russia is doing. We condemn the announcement that Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. We are monitoring closely what they are doing, so far we haven't seen any changes in the Russian nuclear deployment posture that requires any changes from our side. We remain vigilant, and we will ensure that we are ready to protect and defend every NATO Ally against any potential threat," Stoltenberg said. 

 

As regards potential deployment of Wagner forces in Belarus, Stoltenberg said so far there hasn't been any deployment or movement of Wagner forces in Belarus, reiterating that NATO follows closely what's happening. 

 

The Vilnius Summit has unprecedented security measures in place, with up to 12,000 officers, troops and military personnel tasked with safeguarding the event. 

 

In addition, more than 1,000 Summit-accredited media representatives are organized to cover the event. 

 

Photo: Government of the Republic of North Macedonia