Macedonian History
  • Home
  • Video Archives
  • Research & Documents
  • Maps
  • Books
  • Contact

NATO is a Bona-Fide Military Alliance, Not a Socio-Political Private Club  

12/20/2011

0 Comments

 
In my essay “Skopje Contributes to its Own Instability” I had argued that the problem in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (the FYROM) is the Slavic majority of the country that monopolizes the government and all institutions, disregarding its 35% minority of Albanians, let alone all others. Instead of acting on facts, they have chosen fiction. The latest chosen drama is FYROM’s alleged victimization by Greece according to which Greece invoked its veto power to preclude Skopje NATO membership. 

NATO’s principle for enlargement has created misunderstandings and illusions for some countries that consider NATO the place that either offers security or prestige or even both. It has created misunderstandings because the FYROM Slavs feel that their membership was guaranteed “as is” without changing their modus operandi; it has generated illusions because the FYROM believes that NATO membership is going to boost their national pride. The statement of theGreek Prime Minister that “all Balkan countries would join the EU in 2014,” the so-called Balkans 2014 project, also created great misunderstandings and illusions. Immediately after the announcement, the FYROM Prime Minister declared the Project Skopje 2014, assuming that Skopje’s EU membership was also guaranteed. 

While the strategic goal of all Balkan countries is NATO membership, it does require a series of achievements of certain political and military preconditions, as well as military, economic,and security criteria. On the other hand, one could pose the question, “what could FYROM have to offer to the Alliance, considering their Defense budget is insignificant?”

Before any country is considered a NATO member, it has to fulfill certain political criteria over and above those that NATO requires; the political preparation of the candidate country has to abide by NATO Enlargement Study and Accession Process, Ch. 5, para. 72, which expects the prospective members to have met OSCE requirements before NATO even considers preconditions and criteria for membership.

(c) 2011 Marcus A. Templar
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Research & Documents

    Find hundreds of research documents for Greece's historic Macedonia region.

    Categories

    All
    Author: Adrian Tronson
    Author: Brad L. Cook
    Author: Elias Kapetanopoulos
    Author: Emiliano Arena
    Author: Guy M. Rogers
    Author: Iakovos D. Michailidis
    Author: Jacek Rzepka
    Author: Marcus A. Templar
    Author: Mary R. Lefkowitz
    Author: Miltiadis Hatzopoulos
    Author: Nicholas Hammond
    Author: Pierre Briant
    Author: R. Malcolm Errington
    Author: Rolf Strootman
    Author: Stephen G. Miller
    Org: Brill Publishing
    Org: Canadian Museum Of Civilization
    Org: Discover Magazine
    Org: Field Museum
    Org: Montreal Museum Of Archaeology And History
    Org: Museum Of Aigai
    Org: New Orleans Art Center
    Org: Peeters Publishers
    Org: Pella Museum
    Org: Science Magazine
    Org: Vulci Foundation
    Other: Documenti In Italiano
    Other: Ελληνικά
    Subj: Abecedar
    Subj: Archaeology And Museums
    Subj: Art And Architecture
    Subj: Books On Macedonia
    Subj: Communist Yugoslavia
    Subj: Ethnic Minorities
    Subj: Folklore And Traditions
    Subj: Genetics And Anthropology
    Subj: History (Ancient)
    Subj: History (Byzantine)
    Subj: History (Roman)
    Subj: Language And Epigraphy

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.