Macedonia will become the 30th member of NATO next year, said State Department Director for South and Central Europe Matthew Palmer.

He predicted this at the US-Nuclear Charter Partnership Committee meeting in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica. "Addressing the name issue will also be a push to strengthen regional stability and we welcome the resumption of negotiations between Macedonia and Greece," the US diplomat said.

He congratulated Macedonia on the excellent presidency of the Charter, pointing out that the United States supports the integration efforts of the region, which will continue in the future.

Novinite.com recalls that Macedonia, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina are members of the Nuclear Charter, and Serbia, Kosovo and Slovenia have observer status. The organization was set up in 2003 on the initiative of the United States to coordinate the activities of NATO candidate countries.