Garcevic in Balkan Insight on NATO Enlargement
Ambassador Vesko Garcevic, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was interviewed for a recent article on further NATO enlargement and position of NATO member states after North Macedonia signed the accession protocol with the Alliance.
The article, entitled “Macedonia’s NATO Journey Not Over Yet, Experts Warn,” was published on February 7, 2019 in Balkan Insight.
From the text of the article:
Garcevic believes that despite Macedonia’s “star” status in the region – as the only recent encouraging example from the Balkans – that by itself would not tempt many NATO parliaments to speed up the pace of ratification. Most NATO countries, especially the most significant ones, have lost their appetite for the further enlargement of the Alliance,… For NATO member states, “including the US, the accession of Macedonia is not a priority at this moment. That’s why the process may last as long as that of Montenegro.”
“In the US, which was once the strongest promoter of enlargement, this administration and the previous one have not given that much importance to this process,” he added.
When the vote on Macedonia comes to the US Senate, “there should not be any problems, but postponement could be used as a tactic,” Garcevic continued.
During his diplomatic career, Amb. Vesko Garcevic dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been a Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as a Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School.