Macedonia expects support for integration into NATO and the EU, as well as a realistic assessment of that which it has achieved so far. This is the message that Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski will convey during his visit to Berlin.
Gruevski and Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki will present these expectations to German Chancellor Angela Merkel today. They will also express their gratitude for the German Government's speedy decision to meet with the new Macedonian prime minister. According to the announcements, Gruevski will ask Angela Merkel for support for Macedonia's EU integration process, considering that Germany's assessments during this country's chairing with the EU are considered decisive as regards the date for start of the negotiations for membership.
"It would be good if we receive the date for start of the negotiations during Germany's chairing with the EU. But it is more realistic to expect Macedonia to receive good assessments for its work during Germany's term of office, and then a date for start of the negotiations during Portugal's chairing with the EU," sources from the Macedonian delegation said.
They will also ask for open support and a positive signal from the NATO Summit in Riga for all three countries from the Adriatic Group.
At their meetings in the German Foreign Ministry and the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) and SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany) factions, Gruevski and Milososki will talk about the new Government's priorities, the political and economic situation in Macedonia, and the possibilities for bigger cooperation between the two countries. This will also be the central topic at the Macedonian prime minister's meeting with Federal Minister of Economics and Technology Michael Glos.
Gruevski is also expected to address the Economic Forum, which is organized by the German Chamber for Industry and Trade and the Alliance of the German Industry.
There is a possibility of the prime minister and foreign minister also meeting with the leadership of "Siemens" in Berlin whom they will ask why they have not come to Macedonia yet.