Mrs. Eli Bojadjieska Ristovski:

The date of 24 February 2022 will be stored in the collective memory as the day when Russian aggression started in Ukraine. The invasion of a sovereign and peaceful country cannot be justified by any means. We have since the beginning expressed our full support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We stand by Ukraine and its internationally recognised borders. We commend its brave defence, which is protecting freedom and sovereignty. The great courage Ukrainians have shown is inspiring. They are demonstrating that freedom and democracy are the most powerful weapons any country can have in its defence. We have since the beginning fully aligned, as I said in my opening remarks, to the EU's CFSP. We have aligned ourselves to the substantial package of sanctions against Russia. In March and April, we expelled 11 Russian diplomats from North Macedonia because there were clear signs of malign Russian activity. We have expressed support to Ukraine in several ways. We have sent military equipment, about which I will understandably not go into detail here. We have opened our doors to Ukrainian refugees. Approximately 1,200 refugees are currently housed in my country. This answer links to the question the Deputy asked about NATO. The NATO agenda in the past few months and the latest extraordinary meetings have once again proved that unity, solidarity and the resolute firmness of our allies and partners in dealing with the escalating crisis in Ukraine, and the political and practical support supplied to Ukraine, are stronger and more important when there are more member states around the table, including from the still vulnerable western Balkans region. We have fully engaged with all the meetings and preparatory works at NATO. As a NATO member, we have expressed our firm commitment to Ukraine and actively participated in creating the NATO common strategy with regard to Russian aggression in Ukraine. We also actively engaged in the adoption of the new strategic concept of NATO during the most recent summit in Madrid where, among other points, unequivocal support and determination were expressed to Ukraine and Russia was condemned as the most significant and direct threat not only to the security of Ukraine but also in a larger and broader context.