Military alliances

Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos urged the country's NATO allies to contribute more to efforts for defending the country's sea border against migrant flows from Turkey amid rumors of a new planned push from the neighboring country.

Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos will on Wednesday take part in the NATO defense ministers teleconference to discuss the alliance's response to the Covid-19 crisis.

As well as ensuring the safety of allied troops and personnel, NATO is coordinating military support to allies in response to the pandemic.

Hundreds of tonnes of healthcare equipment have been transported worldwide.

The North-Atlantic Alliance has made it possible to strengthen security at the regional and global level and create the conditions for the complementarity of the activities carried out together with the European Union in areas of common interest for the two international organizations, reads a message delivered on Sunday by President Klaus Iohannis on the occasion of the NATO Day.

We are marking the NATO Day in Romania this year by showing the Euro-Atlantic unity and solidarity, in the context of an unseen health crisis in our contemporary world, reads a message sent by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban on Sunday.

The Greek Foreign Ministry has congratulated North Macedonia for becoming the 30th member of NATO.

"We congratulate the Republic of North Macedonia that joins NATO as the 30th member of our alliance. We welcome our neighbors to the NATO family and look forward to working together as allies," it tweeted.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on March 27 congratulated the Republic of North Macedonia on its accession to NATO.

"As of today, the Republic of North Macedonia is the thirtieth NATO member state. I congratulate our neighbours on their accession to the North Atlantic Treaty and look forward to the country's internal reforms.

North Macedonia on Friday officially became the 30th member of the NATO military alliance.

"North Macedonia is now part of the NATO family, a family of 30 nations and almost 1 billion people. A family based on the certainty that, no matter what challenges we face, we are all stronger and safer together," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. [AP]
 

North Macedonia on Tuesday cleared the final hurdle to becoming the 30th member of the NATO military alliance after the Spanish Senate ratified its accession.

Spain's office at NATO said that 259 of the 264 senators endorsed the move. The bill was immediately signed by King Felipe and will be submitted to the US State Department for official confirmation within the next 72 hours.

The crisis on Greece's northeastern border with Turkey is another episode in an increasingly militaristic rivalry between the NATO allies.