Macedonia may prove unable to pursue an independent foreign policy following its accession to NATO, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.

“You will certainly have to pay for the protection by NATO. I already know what the price is for it. It will be necessary to pay as a result of the increase of the defense costs, participation in military preparations, operations that are far from the interests of the Macedonian people, and also the loss of the possibility of conducting a sovereign foreign policy,” said Zakharova.

According to her, the Russian Foreign Ministry cannot understand from what threats NATO plans to protect Macedonia.

“The Kosovo army, which is being formed of former Albanian militants, is the only serious military power that is destabilizing the region. We don’t see any other security threats and so we ask ourselves: is it possible that NATO will once again wage a war against those who received training and weapons from the Alliance?”, Zakharova said.