TIRANA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Albanian lawmakers adopted on Thursday the draft law "On the ratification of the Protocol on the Accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)" during its parliament session.
Speaker of the Albanian Parliament Gramoz Ruci said the Republic of North Macedonia has gone through a difficult experience up to now.
The name-change "was made possible by the political courage and the emancipation of the Albanians of the Republic of North Macedonia. The Albanian parties gave the green light for the European Union to open accession negotiations and (and also for) NATO membership," Ruci said.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said there would be no Republic of North Macedonia without the Albanians.
"Today's vote coincides with a golden time in the inter-ethnic relations between the two state-building peoples of North Macedonia," said Rama.
The prime minister underlined that Albania's role in North Macedonia's historical processes has been one of support, and that the present-day situation in North Macedonia is better than ever before with regard to inter-ethnic political relations.
Visiting North Macedonian Speaker of Parliament Talat Xhaferi thanked Albania for the "solemn act".
Albania has been a member of NATO since 2009.
