Macedonian Foreign Affairs Minister Nikola Poposki, who was on a visit to Greece for a meeting of regional foreign ministers, told the press that it is not realistic for Macedonia to expect an invitation to join NATO at the upcoming Warsaw Summit, due to Greece's objections.

"I can't say if we expect or don't expect an invitation, it is after all a decision for the NATO member countries, and not for Macedonia, to make. Regarding NATO, there is a decision from 2008 stating that the only obstacle for Macedonia's non-membership is the name issue that has been imposed on us on the part of Greece. We have the 2011 decision by the International Court of Justice, that says that Greece's decision is unlawful. In the meantime, whatever happens, depends on the will of the NATO member countries", Minister Poposki said, adding that at this point there doesn't seem to be will in Greece to allow Macedonia to join NATO.

MIA correspondent in Solun (Thessaloniki) reports that Minister Poposki was also asked about the migrant crisis, and his meeting with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov on this issue. Poposki said that after Macedonia's closure of the border with Greece for irregular migrants, there is some worry that the route might shift toward Bulgaria.

"One of the risks is that migrants who are now trying to enter into Macedonian territory by force, will in the future try to circumvent our border, crossing first into Bulgaria and then back into Macedonia. These are risks that we need to cooperate on. Our cooperation with both Bulgaria and Albania is pretty good with regard to border management, but the fact is that we can't compare the situation there to the one in Greece, where we have enormous pressure of ten thousand migrants sitting on the very border line in tents", Poposki said.