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.
Albania–NATO relations
At the 2008 NATO Bucharest summit, NATO member states signed accession protocols for Albania and Croatia. A signing ceremony was held, and witnessed by the foreign ministers of the two countries. Individual NATO member states must ratify the protocols according to their national requirements and procedures. NATO hopes to have this completed by the next NATO summit in April 2009.
In August 2018, Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama announced that NATO plans to build its first air base in the Western Balkans near the municipality of Kuçovë in south-central Albania. Also, officials are discussing with the US and the alliance on "modernizing Albanian air capacities". The first phase of the project, expected to commence by the end of 2018 will have an estimated cost of 50 million euros.