Members of Parliament and high level guests are gathered for the ratification of the NATO accession protocol. Macedonia is going ahead and ratifying the protocol without waiting on Spain, which is the last NATO member state that still hasn’t done so.

NATO representatives, members of the diplomatic corps and opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski are in attendance as the protocol is about to be put to the floor.

The ratification postponed the tense debate over the proposed PPO law on state prosecutors, which the Zaev regime hopes will solidify its control over the judiciary. Both were expected to be adopted before the Parliament dissolves to make way for the early elections. It is expected it will dissolve tomorrow, although Zaev’s insistence that the PPO law is adopted by this Parliament may lead to attempts to postpone the dissolution.

The NATO linked ceremony provides that the NATO flag will be raised in front of the Parliament once the ratification is completed. Customarily, the candidate country waits until all the member states ratify the protocol before doing so herself, but due to the political crisis in Spain and the delays there, Macedonian politicians decided not to postpone the NATO accession on their part and go ahead with the vote.