The future of the Western Balkans is in the European family. This message was sent from Thessaloniki to all EU candidate member state on Thursday.

The European integration of the Western Balkans, the enlargement agenda and the achieved progress of the candidate member states on their way to the Union were the main topics at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU member states and the countries of the Western Balkans in Thessaloniki in Thursday, which was also attended by Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki and EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule.

Minister Poposki stressed in his address the five consecutive recommendations for opening membership negotiations between the Republic of Macedonia and the European Union, the Judgment of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the criteria that Macedonia has met and the Greek objections that keep Macedonia from opening membership negotiations with the European Union.

“The Macedonian message was very clear – just as Macedonia accepted all demands and expectations for meeting criteria, so the European Union should maintain the credibility of the enlargement process. We would also like to thank the European Commission for the fact that despite the serious political pressure, for five years it has issued an objective assessment that the Republic of Macedonia has met all criteria for opening negotiations,” Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki said at the event marking the 11th anniversary of the Thessaloniki Agenda 2003.