Two decades of the fall of the Berlin wall, Macedonia is trying to topple another wall – the Schengen wall – and to make progress in the process of European integration. This is one of the messages of the public debate that on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall took place at President Gjorge Ivanov’s residence Monday.

The Macedonian president said some of the problems Macedonia faced now were a result of the Cold War and the incapacity of the political structures to take timely action and cut off completely all ties with the old system. According to the Macedonian president, one of those problems is the name issue. He said he hoped that the lustration process would help Macedonia lustrate itself from this “gangrene” that does not let normal development of the new system.

According to Ivanov, one of the reasons for the Cold War was the civil war in Greece, too, and added that the Cold War in Greece perhaps symbolically should end.

“We believe that the rhetoric that is now being used by our neighbor is of that time and as a reflection of mistrust should be abandoned,” President Ivanov said.