NATO member North Macedonia has told Ukraine it will need to implement defense and security reforms before being considered "serious applicants" to join the military alliance. 

President Stevo Pendarovski stated that, while he believes each nation has "the sovereign right to decide - which organization they would like to join," Kyiv still needs to convince NATO members. 

In an interview with CGTN Europe, Pendarovski said, "at present, there is no consensus among the NATO members to accept Ukraine."

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North Macedonia is the most recent member of NATO, attaining full membership in 2020. The nation, which resides north of Greece and West of Bulgaria, is also trying to join the European Union.

'Western alliance' 

Discussing the current Ukraine/Russia crisis, Pendarovski recognized North Macedonians long-held ties to Moscow. Both are predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christianity nations, and Russia was one of the first countries to recognize the North Macedonian's independence in 1991. 

Despite that, Pendarovski said his country must consider what is in the "national interest." 

"We should follow what our Western partners have to say about different problems in the international arena," he said. "At present, if you ask me about the current position of North Macedonia, we are closely following our partners from the Western alliance.

"The interests of the Western alliance are in conflict with Russian interest, especially speaking about the Ukrainian-Russian dispute. So we have to follow that because that is our national interest."