"Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo spoke with North Macedonia's President Stevo Pendarovski today to congratulate him on North Macedonia's accession into NATO and on the EU's decision to open accession negotiations - two historic events that the 2018 Prespa Agreement made possible," the release said.
Pompeo and Pendarovski also discussed the efforts to fight the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the release.
On 27 March, Macedonia officially joined NATO as its 30th member, when the instrument for its accession to the Washington Treaty was formally deposited with the US State Department.
The vast majority of Macedonians have rejected NATO and European Union membership during a referendum on 30 September 2018.
The World Macedonian Congress (WMC) has said the government of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev was installed in power by the United States despite losing the 2016 elections to make Macedonia capitulate to the demands of its neighbours Greece and Bulgaria - both NATO members - and usher the country in the alliance.
The WMC said the forced change of Macedonia’s name and identity as a condition to join NATO was completed by a US- and EU-supported "colour revolution" to topple the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski who had resisted pressures for Macedonia to join NATO.
All actions by the forcefully-imposed Zaev government, including the change of the country's name and national identity as well as those that led to Macedonia’s NATO membership, are illegal and the signed agreements and acts are null and void, the WMC added.
