US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith welcomed Macedonia’s achievement to spend over 2 percent of its GDP on defense. Smith said that the US welcomes these efforts on the part of Macedonia, as well as Macedonia’s support for Ukraine.

Ambassador Smith spoke with the MIA news agency ahead of the Washington summit of NATO, where Macedonia will likely be represented by incoming Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski. It’s likely that, with regard to Macedonia, the summit will be dominated by Greek protests over the use of the imposed name.