NATO is ready to welcome North Macedonia as its 30th member, after the country ended a decades-long dispute with Greece, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.

Stoltenberg spoke after meeting the country’s top leaders in the capital, Skopje, on the last day of a two-day visit accompanied by 29 ambassadors to the alliance’s top decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council.

In February, Skopje signed a protocol that could see the former Yugoslav republic become the alliance’s 30th member if the move is ratified by all 29 NATO allies.

The signing was made possible after Skopje and Athens settled a decades-old dispute through a compromise that changed Macedonia’s name to the Republic of North Macedonia, thus allaying Greek fears of any claim to its region of Macedonia.

Fourteen NATO members have ratified the Accession Protocol. North Macedonia can join once the remaining 15 also do so.
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