North Atlantic Treaty Organization: Macedonia's Bid for Membership

Dear Delegates:

Welcome to YMGE 2017! My name is Oleksa Alex Martiniouk and it is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. I am looking forward to the exciting discussion, learning, and debate that will take place in our committee and cannot wait to hear the innovative ideas and solutions that you will bring to the table as our sessions progress.

In my experiences with Model Government, I have served as both a chair and a Secretariat member on various occasions, but I have also participated plenty as a delegate. I have felt the feelings of excitement, wonder, and uncertainty that face you as you prepare to take part in fast-paced debate, address nuanced crises, and develop ideas through constant collaboration with your peers. I am prepared to help you along the way with any concerns or difficulties you may have and am incredibly excited to see the way in which you will address important contemporary issues with care, consideration, and collaboration as both you and your perspectives develop and grow throughout the process. Model Government is an unparalleled platform to grow as an individual, be it in the skills of public speaking, researching, debating, or cooperation with your peers, and I hope that you all take advantage of the great opportunities that YMGE will present you with in this regard. We, the committee directors, have put in a lot of work preparing these topics, and we hope to see that mirrored in the work you put into your preparation for and participation in the committees.

Of course, I'd also like to share a little bit about myself. I am a rising junior in Berkeley College at Yale University (Berkeley is objectively the best residential college at Yale). I am studying Global Affairs and Computer Science and have particularly strong interests in both the arts and the sciences. I was born and raised in New York City, but my family hails from Ukraine—I visit the country every year and even lived there sporadically in my youth. On campus, I am especially involved with the Yale International Relations Association (YIRA), of which YMGE in a constituent program, and have served on the Secretariats of Yale Model United Nations (I’m currently the Secretary-General), the Security Council Simulation at Yale, the International Relations Symposium at Yale, and Yale Model United Nations Taiwan. I also had the chance to travel to the Russian Federation on a YIRA foreign affairs research trip, a remarkably rewarding experience given my interest in Eastern European politics and the opportunity it provided to meet with opposition leaders and intellectuals. Outside of YIRA, I am the Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Banner Publications, the 175 year-old organisation that produces Yale’s yearbook, and the President of the Ukrainian Student Organization at Yale.

I am extremely excited to meet all of you this upcoming November and encourage you to take advantage of this topic guide and contact me with any questions you may have about this committee, Yale, or anything else you might be wondering about, really. Feel free to write to me at oleksa.martiniouk@yale.edu—see you soon!

Best, 

Oleksa Alex Martiniouk

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, abbreviated NATO and OTAN in the two official languages of the Organisation, English and French, is a collective security alliance which consists of twenty-nine North American and European states. The Organisation was formed on April 4, 1949 with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty, deriving it authority from the United Nations Charter, Article 51—twelve countries were part of the alliances founding: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In essence, the Organisation is simply a vehicle for the obligations encoded into the Articles of the Treaty to be realised. Since its inception, the alliance has offered membership to many other European states and, most notably, and possibly even controversially, the alliance expanded into Eastern Europe, extending the promise of collective security rather quickly to various states formerly part of the Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union after the Socialist Republics abandoned the Moscow government. This expansion drew the ire of Russian officials, many of whom claim that, in the discussions surrounding the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, an agreement was reached specifying that NATO would not expand further east, even though the topic of eastward expansion was never brought up and, even if such an agreement were to have existed, one of the parties to such an agreement, the USSR, no longer exists. The twenty-ninth member to find its place under NATO's nuclear umbrella was Montenegro, a small, formerly Yugoslavian State on the Adriatic and sparked the latest wave of anti-NATO sentiment from the Russian Federation. 

It was during the Korean War in 1950 when NATO formally created a military command structure. Since then, the Organisation has taken an active role in Afghanistan, Kosovo, the Mediterranean, and other international crises and has formed partnerships with non-member states, such as those in Eastern Europe, and international organisations, such as the African Union. The Organisation regularly engages in military drills with these partners and collaborates on military and technological development. 

One of the most important Article of the North Atlantic Treaty, and likely the only the general public is familiar with, is Article 5—the Article states that "an armed attack against one or more of them...shall be considered an armed attack against them all." The Article reflects one of the initial missions of the Organisation well: to deter Soviet expansion and respond to the threat that the USSR represented during the Cold War. But the Organisation was created with two other core missions—preventing a revival of destructive European nationalism and promoting European integration. Though many questioned NATO’s purpose after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the Organisation persisted and, in many respects, adapted its original missions as the geopolitical scene transformed. Not only were NATO members drawn into Afghanistan following the 2001 terrorist attacks, but the Organisation has also served as both a military and political reassurance to Eastern European states—to paraphrase Timothy Snyder, Yale’s preeminent historian of Eastern Europe, where NATO goes, the European Union soon follows.

Statehood Following the Collapse of Yugoslavia

Macedonia, formally known as the Republic of Macedonia but also referred to as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), is one of the successor states of Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991. The country joined the United Nations in 1993 and territorially comprises the northwestern third of the larger geographic region of Macedonia. The capital and largest city is Skopje and the total population of the state is 2.06 million. Macedonia remains one of the poorest countries in Europe, but has undergone significant economic reform since its independence from Yugoslavia.

Macedonian Participation in NATO Missions

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia participated in two major NATO missions, Afghanistan and Kosovo. Macedonia sent troops in support of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. The operations lasted from 2002 to 2014, when, upon the completion of the programme, Macedonia continued its support by taking part in the follow-on mission, Resolute Support, to aid Afghan forces. 

Macedonia was also a key ally in the NATO mission in Kosovo, which borders the nation. Some NATO forces were based in Macedonia, from where they provided logistical support to the Kosovo Force, known as the KFOR. Macedonia also absorbed a significant chunk of the refugees generated by the conflict in Kosovo and facilitated the transfer of humanitarian aid to these refugees.

NATO Mission in Macedonia

NATO was instrumental to Macedonia when violence broke out between Albanian insurgent forces and the state in 2001. Following a ceasefire facilitated by NATO, NATO was invited by the government in Skopje to oversee the voluntary disarmament of these insurgents, the Albanian National Liberation Army, and supervise the destruction of the forfeited weapons. NATO collected thousands of firearms in this limited mission. A political settlement was reached through the Ohrid Framework Agreement in August 2001. This mission continued until 2003. The military headquarter formed in Skopje at the time has since become a Liaison Office, which continues to serve both the Macedonian security forces and the KFOR. 

2008 Bucharest Summit

The 2008 Bucharest summit was the culminating moment in Macedonia’s bid for NATO membership. Though it seemed as though the requirements for membership had been met by the state, Macedonia’s bid for membership was vetoed by Greece. Though Macedonia had applied as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to avoid conflict, Greece’s rationale for blocking accession was the claim that Macedonia’s constitutional name implied territorial aspirations for the region of Macedonia within Greece.

Case Study: Greek Veto

The term 'Macedonia,' not only refers to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Greek region of Macedonia, but also signifies the general, historical lands in the southern Balkans and Alexander the Great's Kingdom of Macedon. For these reasons, it has been a touchy subject between south Slavs and Greeks over the years.  Greece maintains that the use of the name, and relevant symbols and figures of the Kingdom of Macedon, reflects Macedonia's territorial claims to land outside its borders, particularly the identically named region of northern Greece. The dispute about the name escalated significantly during NATO accession talks for Macedonia and, even though Macedonia had applied as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Greece argued this was insufficient to address its concerns and vetoed Macedonia's invitation into NATO. The move created huge backlash in Macedonia, with people depicting the Greek state as fascist and Nazi. Interestingly enough, 95% of Greeks supported the decision to veto.

Greece Sued in the International Court of Justice

As a result of the veto, Macedonia sued Greece in the International Court of Justice on the grounds that Greece’s rationale was invalid. The International Court of Justice ruled that it was, in fact, invalid, and that Greece was in breach of the 1995 interim accord that allowed Macedonia to join international organizations under the name “the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,” which is how they were recognized by NATO, with the exception of Turkey, which chose to specify that they recognize the state as the Republic of Macedonia. The ruling had little effect on Macedonia’s effort to join the defense alliance.

Revived Aspirations

In recent years, Macedonia has reinvigorated its attempts to join NATO and has expressed interest in discussing and negotiation with Greece over the naming dispute. Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov and Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska pledged in Brussels this past September that the country would increase its defense spending to gradually meet the required 2% set out by NATO and commit more to their role in the NATO-led mission in Afganistan. Prime Minister Zaev’s governing coalition, made up of the Social Democratic SDSM party and the Albanian DUI party, is seeking to speed up accession to European institutions such as NATO for the country and has made clear that they are open to dialogue in hopes go reviving tensions with Greece and other neighbors.

The Will of the People

In municipal elections held this past October, the ruling party, the Social Democrats, won more than half of Macedonia's municipalities. The Social Democrats are a pro-NATO political party and its leader, Zoran Zaev, has expressed the desire to concede on the naming issue between Greece and Macedonia for the purpose of joining NATO. A growing percentage of Macedonians are in favor of changing the name if it would mean a quick entrance into NATO.

International Support

Though it is unclear how negotiations with Greece will turn out, other NATO members, such as Bulgaria and Turkey, have already expressed support for Macedonia’s inevitable bid for NATO membership. Bulgaria, interestingly enough, blocked Macedonia’s bid for EU membership in 2012 over concerns for Bulgarian minorities within the country, but has not expressed these concerns in recent months when discussing their support for Macedonian membership in NATO.

Amid growing Russian influence in the Balkans highlighted by the failed coup of Montenegro's government, both the Macedonians and NATO are looking to ensure that the naming issue is resolved so that talks of accession can be resumed and acted on. 

Greece and Naming Issue

This past September Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said Athens would back Macedonia’s European integration “in every way, once the name issue has been resolved”. Athens has previously insisted that Macedonia use a compound name such as “New Macedonia” or “Upper Macedonia” to avoid association with the Greek region of Macedonia.

The NATO website is a good starting point for more overview information on the alliance and the alliance's relationships with various states around the world, such as Macedonia. 

Radio Free Europe has significant amount of coverage on the naming dispute and Macedonia's accession to NATO, as do other news sources that pay sufficient attention to European affairs: Foreign Policy, Reuters, Politico, etc.

As with any hot topic in contemporary politics, it's important to recognize and understand biases that exist in coverage and scholarly work on the issues. With many different groups and states relevant to the question of Macedonian NATO membership, one should try to actively identify which position the piece takes, what affiliations it may have to groups and/or governments, and where it fits into the web of international and domestic politics in the Europe and the Balkans.