Accession of Macedonia to NATO
Following an agreement in June 2018 to rename the country the Republic of North Macedonia, NATO agreed to consider extending an invitation to the country to join at its summit on 11–12 July. On 11 July 2018, NATO invited Macedonia to begin membership talks, saying the country could join the organization once the naming issue was resolved. Formal accession talks began on 18 October 2018. Greece is expected to be the first NATO member state to ratify Macedonia’s NATO accession protocol.
Milorad Mirčić
Mirčić was a Radical Party vice-president at the republic level in this period and continued to speak for the party on a variety of issues. He opposed the prospect of Serbia joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2007, saying, "The United States is creating hotspots in the world and NATO does the dirtiest work in the field. We do not want to be a part of that." He also said, "by joining NATO, [Serbia] would be making a major concession to the advocates of independence for Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija], because the alliance's strategy is not to interfere in internal conflicts in its member-nations." Ultimately, Serbia did not join the military alliance.