The name issue should be resolved over the next three instead of six months as a crucial condition to de-block the process of integration with the EU and NATO and to keep the coalition between BDI and VMRO-DPMNE alive, BDI says. Unless this happens by the end of March, BDI leader Ali Ahmeti is going to tell Prime Minister Gruevski that his political party is walking out of the Government, Vreme reports.
Monday, President of the Republic of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov addressed the Macedonian Parliament. According to Ivanov, 2009 will be remembered for big and significant achievements. Regarding the name issue, Ivanov stressed that Macedonia is ready for a solution of compromise, but only regarding things foreseen in UN resolutions. The opposition assessed Ivanov’s first annual address, since being elected president, as empty, idealess but filled with compliments to the Government. According to BDI representatives, Ivanov only counted down what he has done and we who he had met. VMRO-DPMNE praised Ivanov’s statement that Macedonia should lead a Macedonian and European policy.
Macedonian citizens can now travel without visas in the European Union countries. Around 100 Macedonian citizens travelled to Paris on a one-day excursion, in order to symbolically mark the EU visa free regime. On 19 December President Gjorge Ivanov symbolically passed the Bulgarian border crossing without a visa. He was met by his Bulgarian counterpart Georgi Prvanov. Prior to this, late Friday, 10 000 citizens celebrated the visa liberalization on the center square.
Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov, on his demand, on Thursday at the sidelines of the Conference on Climate Changes had a brief meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. President Ivanov welcomed the established dialogue between both countries which should contribute in increasing the trust and the better understanding of the political leaders.
President Ivanov on Wednesday in Copenhagen stated that everybody needs a legally binding agreement at global level which will reduce global warming. The President who is taking part at the at the UN Conference on Climate Change said that Macedonia brought a decision a decision to boost its use of renewable energies in overall energy consumption from the current 15,3% to 21%.
In the governing coalition of VMRO-DPMNE and BDI problems have occurred in the wake of the meeting of the EU Council of Ministers in Brussels on 8 December. The discontent of BDI, expressed in a column by BDI general secretary Teuta Arifi and substantiated in a separate statement by MP Ermira Mehmeti, is getting increasingly visible. Both MPs raise the issue of what BDI is doing in an anti-NATO and anti-European government and set the condition that BDI would walk out of the coalition unless Macedonia resolves the name issue with Greece over the next six months.
VMRO-DPMNE voiced public disagreement with the BDI stands for the first time on Tuesday. Although VMRO-DPMNE MP Kosana Nikolik-Mazneva presented her stands on BDI’s rigidness, intolerance and national frustration as personal views, almost the entire public believes this is the position of BDI’s coalition partner VMRO-DPMNE.
Macedonian president Gjorge Ivanov is to participate at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen from December 15-18. The president of Macedonia is scheduled to address the Conference on Wednesday. At the sidelines of the Conference, Ivanov is to meet with his colleagues from Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and from Lithuania, Dalia Gribauskaite.
Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki called on building bridges between the countries in the region and for fighting prejudices, stereotypes and racial discrimination. He appealed for respect of differences and announced that Macedonia joined the initiative for inter-cultural dialogue, at the first Ministerial Meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations of the UN for the Countries of Southeast Europe that took place in Sarajevo on Monday. In this context, Macedonia is going to organize a celebration of the centennial of Mother Theresa’s birth next year.
Macedonia is politically upset by the outcome of the meeting of the EU Council of Ministers in Brussels. The opposition accused the Government of conducting the name issue talks badly and of being responsible for the rising Euro-skepticism, as Prime Minister Gruevski said no government would be able to accept the Greek demands.
The leaders’ meeting organized by EU Ambassador Erwan Fouere Friday went in such an atmosphere, too. Prime Minister Gruevski said in a televised interview later that day that the mistrust between the government and the opposition was the main obstacle to building a common strategy in the process of resolving the name issue. According to Gruevski, it is impossible for him to tell everything to the opposition, which evidently sees in the dispute with Greece a unique possibility for political resurrection. On the other hand, SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski said over the weekend the country was in a dead end and that fear ruled again.
“The Macedonian red line is a result of the fundamental civilization acquisitions of the human fight for freedom and therefore we will not succumb to any pressure in depriving our right for self-determination and self-identification,” stated President Gjorge Ivanov during his Thursday speech at the Skopje-based Faculty of Law on occasion of the International Human Rights Day.
Macedonia is unsatisfied with the outcome of the meeting of the Council of Ministers in Brussels, at which it was not set a date for starting accession talks. However, Macedonia is not giving up the Euro-integration process and talks for resolution of the name issue. It is not going to accept blackmails and ultimatums to renounce its identity either.
“Greece did not want a solution. It set conditions that no government or politician could accept. I directly told Papandreou on the last occasion we met that he would find no government over the next 100 years that would accept his demands and conditions,” Prime Minister Gruevski said in Bonn on Wednesday where he is attending the Congress of the European People’s Party.
After two days of sharp discussion, the EU Council of Ministers cancelled the debate on setting Macedonia a date for negotiation talks for a period of six months until the Spanish presidency. EU Diplomatic sources says that this is because Greek pressure. President Gjorge Ivanov stated Monday that Macedonia wants to become a part of Europe but not at all cost and that we will not give in to pressures for a name change. Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is unsatisfied by the outcome from Brussels’ meeting which according to him was a sophisticated variant of Bucharest. “We are Macedonians and we want to become EU members as Macedonians,” stated Gruevski at the Tuesday forum “New Era of the Balkans” in Brussels. Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Milososki described this as a new-blockade Greek hypocrisy. The opposition is disappointed by the Government concerning the name issue. SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski stated Tuesday that we should not miss this chance to solve the name issue. NSDP leader Tito Petkovski stated that he will not comment Macedonia’s foreign policy as long as Gruevski is the Prime Minister and does not come to his senses.
Turkey sees Macedonia as a full-fledged member of NATO and Greece should let Macedonia call itself Macedonia and stop concerning itself with unimportant matters in the interest of the stability of the whole region,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the opening of the Office of the European Union in Istanbul, Turkey, at which Prime Minister Gruevski was invited, too.
Both prime ministers underlined that both countries’ goal was meeting the standards for joining the EU.
“Our countries know that on our way to the EU there can be rises and falls, as well as quick and slow steps,” Prime Minister Gruevski said.
The Brussels-based correspondents of the Macedonian media report that diplomats are looking for a compromise formulation for the conclusion for Macedonia on 7 December, which will not reflect a Greek veto and will at the same time stand for support for Macedonia for being set a date for starting accession talks.
- Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said after meeting Prime Minister Gruevski that he backed the setting of Macedonia a date for starting accession talks. Finland is the last country in PM Gruevski’s tour, during which he lobbies with all EU member states for setting Macedonia a date for starting membership negotiations.
After meeting Macedonian Prime Minister Gruevski, EC President Jose Manuel Barroso said there was political will between Macedonia and Greece to resolve the open issue and that now was the time for both countries to do it. Barroso said Macedonia made exceptional effort in the process of integration, meeting the criteria for starting accession talks. PM Gruevski said that the dialogue with Greece had been good as never before but there was still no palpable progress regarding the open issue.
Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has its first official meeting with EC President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday afternoon. European diplomats believe this meeting will be an attempt on the part of the EU to assume a more serious role in seeking out a resolution to the name issue between Macedonia and Greece.
- After the meeting with Greek Prime Minister Papandreou and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Droutsas in Athens, Tuesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Milososki stated that the Greek veto restraint of the negotiation talks will have a positive effect on the name issue settlement.
As of 19 December Macedonian citizens will be able to travel across Europe without visas. This decision was brought in Brussels by the Council of Ministers of Interior and Justice of the EU member-countries. The elimination of the visas is valid only for those who possess biometric passports. Annually, Macedonian citizens took out around 200,000 visas and spent over 10 million euros. President Gjorge Ivanov welcomed the decision for the visa liberalization and stressed that it presents a huge step closer to the EU. Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski expressed his great satisfaction for this historical decision saying that it is recognition for Macedonia’s progress in the European integration. The Minister of Interior Gordana Jankulovska and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are satisfied by the visa abolition. SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski welcomed the decision for the visa liberalization and expressed hope that the Macedonian citizens will take advantage of it.
After their meeting in Pili, Greece, on Friday, the Macedonian and Greek Prime Ministers, Gruevski and Papandreou, retained their positions regarding the resolution of the name issue, which, according to Macedonian media, let down diplomats in Brussels.
- Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski hopes that Macedonia is to be set a date for start of EU membership negotiations and assures that Macedonia remains active in the negotiations of the name issue with Greece. Gruevski sent this message in a letter to heads of states and governments of EU countries.
Carl Bildt, Swedish Foreign Minister and EU chairman, said after meeting PM Gruevski and before leaving Skopje Friday morning that he did not believe that Greece would veto Macedonia again. He refused to specify what his expectations from the meeting between Gruevski and Papandreou on Friday in Pili, Greece, were. However, he said he hoped meetings like this would be positive and would contribute to closer regional cooperation. He believes that the problem between Macedonia and Greece is a bilateral issue and that it depends on both prime ministers whether certain progress is made or not.
- The Swedish Minister of Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, arrived Thursday evening to Skopje in an unannounced visit to Macedonia. Bildt had a three hour long conversation with PM Nikola Gruevski and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Milososki.
Ljube Boskoski, leader of United for Macedonia, accused Prime Minister and VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski of being responsible for the campaign aiming to discredit his personality and eliminate him from Macedonia’s political stage in the light of the video just recently posted on YouTube, which, according to Boskoski, has been taken out of context with the aim of showing that Boskoski made a statement, harming Johan Tarculovski to avoid serving time at Scheveningen.
The European Parliament adopted the strategy for EU enlargement which recommends the EU Council of Ministers to recommend the opening of pre-accession negotiation talks for Macedonia on 7 December.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed Monday the meeting of the prime ministers of Macedonia and Greece set for Friday.
“I believe that the effort both countries are making is a good sign. It is clear that our recommendation for negotiations is strong encouragement to resolve the name issue. And, of course, I want the European Council of Ministers to adopt our recommendation for negotiations with FYROM,” he said.
The Prime Ministers of Macedonia and Greece, Gruevski and Papandreou, are going to meet before the meeting of the Council of Ministers set for 7 December in Brussels, at which it should be decided whether Macedonia should be set a date for starting membership negotiations.
Vreme speculates that Greece and Macedonia are pressurized by the international community to resolve the name issue and to reach some kind of compromise. Diplomatic sources told Vreme and A1 TV that the date of the meeting is being kept secret in order to avoid public pressure in both countries.
Diplomatic sources say that the prime ministers are expected to reach an verbal agreement over the new name, which is speculated to be “Northern Republic of Macedonia”, and add that Skopje and Athens are urged to begin talks regarding the scope of the international use of the new name. According to the same sources, the Gruevski-Papandreou meeting should take place by no later than 2 December when the Macedonian prime minister is scheduled to meet EC President Jose Manuel Barroso.
According to this scenario, the Council of Ministers is going to set Macedonia a date on 7 December. It is speculated that accession talks will begin in April 2010, at the same time when talks with Iceland should begin.
On Thursday President Gjorge Ivanov refused to attend the reception organized by Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs in Belgrade Vuk Jeremic. Ivanov was disappointed by the last statement of Jeremic that Belgrade supports Greece's stance in the name row with Macedonia. Nevertheless, on Thursday Ivanov met with his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic in Belgrade after which the cabinets of Macedonian and Serbian presidents Gjorge Ivanov and Boris Tadic sent a joint statement in which they say that Serbia recognizes Macedonia under its constitutional name, that both presidents welcome Greece’s initiative for the Western Balkan countries EU accession by 2014 as well as finding a solution for the church dispute between the Macedonian Orthodox Church and Serbian Orthodox Church and that they agreed that the Kosovo issue will remain open in the bilateral relations.
Negotiate directly and provide a palpable proof that you are making progress, if you want EU support in December, Brussels says. The Swedish Chairman of the Council of the EU, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, told Deutsche Welle on Tuesday that Skopje and Athens were expected to negotiate directly so that swift progress could be made. Diplomats in Brussels say that Macedonia could be set a date for starting accession talks in December provided it is demonstrated that the talks are producing concrete results, Dnevnik reports.
