Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska could not say when will Macedonia nominate a new military representative to NATO. Her first choice, colonel Zoran Sekulovski, was sent back by the Alliance after he failed the background checks.

In a major humiliation for the newest NATO member, Macedonia had half a dozen officers denied security clearance, including Sekulovski. It’s not known what specifically the issue was, but it was reported that Sekulovski maintained contacts with Serbian officers, which is the main issue with the other rejected nominees for different functions.

Colonel Dragan Kovacki from VMRO-DPMNE raised the issue of Sekerinska’s problematic personnel choices. He published a side-by-side video of her comments in December, when she nominated Sekulovski, and now, after he was rejected.

We consulted with President Pendarovski and he reached a decision on the nomination for our military representative to NATO. I think it’s an excellent choice, our former first officer in the Partnership for Peace program and in one of our missions abroad. We have an officer who the people can rely on, Sekerinska said in early December.

Asked by the press now, Sekerinska said that she can’t tell when will Macedonia make new nominations, and first a process of re-vetting will have to take place, likely meant to avoid further embarrassment.