Macedonia has full support from Germany. If German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany were the ones that made the decisions in the EU, we would have progressed much quicker than we expected, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski assessed at the end of his official visit to Berlin. That which Gruevski heard from Merkel instilled bigger optimism in him as regards achievement of the objectives: membership in NATO in year 2009 and membership in the EU in year 2013.

 

"We used all the cards that we had. We asked Germany openly to support us, that we have good relations, and that we have good cooperation. This will be our objective. But we have to fight; we have to complete our homework so that we can knock on EU's door with heads held high," Gruevski said.

As regards integration into the EU, he said that the Government is aware that there must be serious progress in the reforms. But he also said that they are aware of the situation in the EU, the Euro skepticism, and the crisis concerning enlargement.

If possible, we would like Germany to recognize our constitutional name in the future, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski told German agency DPA. "It is impossible for us to give up our constitutional name. Thus, we can find another name for our bilateral agreements with Greece," Gruevski said, adding that he hopes that the Greek politicians would understand this in the future. The message from Germany was that Greece cannot continue to do that which it is currently doing eternally and that time is on Macedonia's side.