•HRES 56 IH 
Whereas in March 1995, after signing of a Memorandum of 
Understanding in 1994, a Vermont State Partnership 
Program was established between the State of Vermont 
and the Republic of Macedonia; 
Whereas Macedonia is an active participant as the first state 
partner of the Vermont National Guard for the past 20 
years, and since 1995, more than 3,000 Macedonians and 
Vermonters have shared their expertise in more than 800 
events as the partnership has developed, including a joint 
military embedment in Afghanistan in 2011; 
Whereas during the 1999 Kosovo crisis, Macedonia received 
and accommodated 400,000 Kosovar refugees, and served 
as a staging area and main corridor for logistical support 
to the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) as well as leading 
the KFOR Coordination Centre for logistical support in 
Skopje since 2006; 
Whereas under its NATO Membership Action Plan, Mac-
edonia, in its 15th cycle of MAP, has made strong strides 
on major reforms and reconstruction of its armed forces 
towards the goal of building and sustaining a modern, 
professional defense force of about 12,000 troops that is 
fully interoperable with NATO; 
Whereas Macedonia was one of the first countries to offer 
support to the United States after the September 11, 
2001, terrorist attacks, which has had a policy of ‘‘an at-
tack on the United States is an attack on Macedonia’’, 
as stated by the late Macedonian President Boris 
Trajkovski; 
Whereas in Afghanistan, Macedonia, who patrolled Inter-
national Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters 
in Kabul, and was the fifth largest ISAF troop contrib-
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•HRES 56 IH 
utor per capita, contributed troops to the NATO-led 
ISAF mission since 2002 and engaged in combat oper-
ations side-by-side with United States troops, increasing 
troop levels in 2010; 
Whereas Macedonia has been recognized as an operational 
partner in the new ‘‘Resolute Support’’ Mission in Af-
ghanistan to train, advise, and assist our Afghan part-
ners; 
Whereas in the interest of a faithful partnership with the 
United States, Macedonia deployed troops to Iraq under 
the leadership of the United States Government until 
2008; 
Whereas Macedonia also contributes to the European Union 
mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and has contributed 
troops in Lebanon; 
Whereas soldiers from Macedonia earned 120 medals award-
ed by the United States; 
Whereas in 2005, in Macedonia, NATO and partner nations 
conducted a Partnership for Peace, joint military exer-
cises named ‘‘Cooperation Alliance 2005’’ that was aimed 
to strengthen coordination and cooperation between the 
bloc and member countries of its Partnership for Peace 
Program; 
Whereas in 2007, Macedonia successfully hosted the Euro-At-
lantic Partnership Council Security Forum, which was at-
tended by the United States Secretary of Defense; 
Whereas in 2008, the United States signed a Declaration of 
Strategic Partnership and Cooperation with Macedonia 
stating that ‘‘The 2008 NATO Summit Declaration in 
Bucharest made clear that the Republic of Macedonia 
has met NATO’s democratic, economic, and defense 
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•HRES 56 IH 
standards through its rigorous participation in the Mem-
bership Action Plan.’’; 
Whereas the 2008 Declaration outlined the importance of 
close partnership between the two countries based upon 
common goals, interests, and values, in order to enhance 
their strategic relationship through intensified consulta-
tion and cooperation in the areas of security, people-to- 
people ties, and commerce, the United States committed 
itself to provide additional assistance to Macedonia to 
help build prosperity and strengthen security; 
Whereas the United States and Macedonia noted that a 
democratic, secure, and prosperous Macedonia, with 
friendly and constructive relations with its neighbors is 
vital to peace and stability in Southeast Europe; 
Whereas the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Decem-
ber 2011 in its final judgment, without possibility for ap-
peal, and binding on the parties, found that Greece, by 
objecting to the admission of Macedonia to NATO during 
the 2008 Bucharest Summit, has breached its obligation 
under article 11 of the United Nations Interim Accord of 
September 13, 1995; 
Whereas current United States President Barack Obama on 
April 4, 2009, at the Strasbourg-Kehl NATO Summit 
stated ‘‘I look forward to the day when we can welcome 
Macedonia to the Alliance’’; 
Whereas the North Atlantic Council Foreign Ministers meet-
ing on December 7, 2011, applauded the significant oper-
ational support provided to NATO by aspirant partners 
Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 
Georgia; 
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Whereas senior United States Department of State officials 
at the 2012 Chicago Summit stated it should be the last 
summit that is not an enlargement summit; 
Whereas the NATO Wales Summit 2014 Declaration ex-
pressed appreciation for the Republic of Macedonia’s 
long-standing contribution to NATO operations, its active 
role in regional cooperation and Macedonia’s long-stand-
ing commitment to the NATO accession process; 
Whereas Macedonia is strategically located in Southeast Eu-
rope displaying a unique gateway for rapid NATO troop 
deployments to the Middle East and North Africa in 
order to maintain regional stability; 
Whereas Macedonia remains committed to further pursuing 
reforms, focused primarily on the country’s development 
as a stable multi-cultural democracy, by ensuring effec-
tive political dialogue, independence of the judiciary, 
media freedom, the further development of the free mar-
ket economy, reform of the public administration, improv-
ing the living standard and advancing the quality of life 
of Macedonian citizens; 
Whereas Macedonia has been recognized by the World Bank 
and the European Union as an economic reformer, and 
according to the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Jour-
nal 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, Macedonia’s eco-
nomic freedom score is 68.6, making its economy the 
43rd freest in the 2014 Index and is ranked 20th out of 
43 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score 
is above the world and regional averages; 
Whereas Macedonia’s NATO membership would benefit 
Greek businesses, which are one of the most significant 
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foreign direct investors in Macedonia, in addition to the 
significant volume of Macedonian tourism in Greece; and 
Whereas Macedonia has satisfied all NATO membership cri-
teria per all declarations made by 2008 Bucharest Sum-
mit, and subsequently thereafter, is active in NATO mis-
sions, and obtained the support of the ICJ: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports Macedonia’s aspirations to join the 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); 
(2) recognizes the cooperation between the 
State of Vermont and Macedonia and the joint mili-
tary partnership between Vermont National Guard 
and the Army of the Republic of Macedonia; 
(3) recognizes the significant benefits of closer 
economic and political ties between NATO members 
and Macedonia in its commitment to foster regional 
stability and the important principle of mutual de-
fense of all NATO members, including Greece; 
(4) recognizes the importance of the NATO 
membership for Macedonia for its economic growth, 
strengthening of the democratic institutions and 
norms, and bolstering rule of law in Southeast Eu-
rope; 
(5) greatly appreciates the efforts of Macedonia 
in its commitment and participation with the United 
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States and other countries in advancing peace, de-
mocracy, stability, and mutual understanding; 
(6) urges the Administration and the United 
States Department of State to continue to work 
closely with Macedonia and to support NATO en-
largement by granting full membership to Mac-
edonia; 
(7) acknowledges and supports the progress 
made by Macedonia’s efforts in the NATO member-
ship process; 
(8) calls on the Administration, United States 
Department of State, and European allies to work 
with Greece and NATO allies to ensure that bilat-
eral disputes do not impede Macedonia’s NATO ac-
cession for the sake of regional stability in light of 
the current situation with Ukraine; and 
(9) urges NATO members to formally extend 
an invitation to Macedonia to join NATO as soon as 
possible at one of the next meetings of the North At-
lantic Council or NATO Summit in Poland in 2016. 
Æ 
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