The EC report on Macedonia’s progress is very important and good for the country, said Richard Howitt, British MEP and rapporteur for Macedonia at the EU, and Aivo Orav, EU Ambassador to Macedonia, at the meeting of the National European Integration Council in Skopje Monday. Mr. Howitt also said the country should be set a date for opening accession negotiations with the EU because the status quo was bad for it.

“The comments I make in Brussels clearly show that this country cannot remain in a status quo. It is not right to refuse this country’s aspirations for membership year after year. The position of the EC, of the EP and my personal position is that the Copenhagen criteria have been met enough. But it also fair to say that some EU member states – not only your neighbors but also a number of other countries – disagree with this. This is what we need to discuss before December – what we should do to convince these countries that the Copenhagen criteria have been sufficiently met,” Howitt said.