Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in Macedonia on Monday, condemning Russian efforts to use its money and influence to build opposition to an upcoming vote that could pave the way for the country to join NATO, a move Moscow opposes.
Mattis told reporters traveling with him to Skopje that there is “no doubt” that Moscow has been funding pro-Russian groups to defeat the referendum on a name change later this month.
“They have transferred money, and they’re also conducting broader influence campaigns,” Mattis said. “We ought to leave the Macedonian people to make up their own minds.”
Macedonians will vote Sept. 30 on whether to approve the new name of North Macedonia in an effort to placate Greece, which has for years blocked Macedonia’s path to NATO and the European Union. But any progress toward NATO membership by the Balkan nation is strongly opposed by Russia, which doesn’t want the alliance to expand to areas formerly under Moscow’s influence.
Speaking after a meeting with Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Mattis made no mention of Russia but announced that the U.S. plans to expand its cybersecurity cooperation with Macedonia “to thwart malicious cyber activity that threatens our democracies.”
Zaev predicted that Macedonians will vote in favor of the name change and thus the move into NATO.
“There is no other alternative for the Republic of Macedonia than the integration into NATO and the EU,” he said.
Macedonia’s main conservative opposition VMRO-DPMNE party repeated its position on Monday that “the agreement with Greece is the worst deal signed in…
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