Washington, D.C. – On November 16^th, 2006, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the NATO Freedom Consolidation Act of 2006 to “endorse further enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and to facilitate the timely admission of Albania, Croatia, Georgia, and Macedonia to NATO,” among other purposes.  United Macedonian Diaspora applauds this, and in light of the upcoming Riga Summit, encourages the U.S. and NATO to offer timely admission of Albania, Croatia, Georgia, and Macedonia to NATO.

United Macedonian Diaspora, upon learning of the introduction of this legislation, initiated its Macedonia in NATO 2008 advocacy campaign encouraging support of Macedonia’s aspirations to join NATO.  UMD expresses gratitude to all its members and supporters throughout the Macedonian-American community for their daily advocacy on issues concerning Macedonian-Americans, with particular thanks to communities in Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington, DC.  Furthermore, UMD appreciates the joint advocacy of the Albanian-American, Croatian-American, and Georgian-American communities. 

In conclusion, United Macedonian Diaspora expresses utmost gratitude to Senators Lugar (R-IN), Biden (D-DE), Frist (R-TN), McCain (R-AZ), Smith (R-OR), Voinovich (R-OH), and other co-sponsors of this act for their encouragement and understanding of the need to admit Albania, Croatia, Georgia, and Macedonia into NATO.