NATO membership is of crucial importance for Macedonia and US support to the country’s NATO integration bid is needed now more than ever, Defense Minister Zoran Jolevski noted in a meeting at the Pentagon with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Carpenter.

Jolevski urged US officials to boost their support to strategic business investments in the sphere of defence in Macedonia, MoD said in a press release Thursday.

Backing Jolevski’s proposal, Carpenter voiced his readiness to examine all the options allowing Pentagon and US official to become more engaged in supporting the ongoing processes of modernization of the Macedonian army and defence.

The two interlocutors also agreed the region played a key role in providing stability in Europe and the United States needed to increase its focus and support for the region.

Minister Jolevski met the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense as part of his working visit to the United States.