STA, 7 February 2019 - The government adopted a bill to ratify the NATO Accession Protocol for the future Republic of North Macedonia and submitted it to parliament for final passage.

The protocol was signed in Brussels on Wednesday by the alliance's permanent representatives to NATO and comes after Macedonia and Greece signed and ratified the deal changing Macedonia's name.

In a press release issued after Thursday’s session, the government said that the Western Balkans was a region of strategic importance to the security of Slovenia, NATO and the EU.

The release said that the EU and NATO's enlargement to the region was one of the key stimuli of its progress and a guarantee of its stability.

Matjaž Nemec, the chair of the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee, subsequently called an extraordinary session of the committee for Monday to discuss the protocol, which implies that Slovenia will ratify it within the shortest possible time.

On Monday, Speaker of Macedonian Parliament Talat Xhaferi will start a visit to Slovenia for talks with his counterpart Dejan Židan, President Borut Pahor, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec and Foreign Minister Miro Cerar. He is also expected to address the National Assembly on Tuesday.

The NATO Accession Protocol for Republic of North Macedonia will come into effect after all of the NATO member countries have officially notified the US government of its ratification.

According to foreign media, Greece will be the first country to ratify the protocol with a vote due in the Greek parliament on Friday.