- In this year's report on human trafficking, the U.S. Department of State praises Macedonia for having improved the implementation of laws in this area. The report also recommends continuation of the efforts to protect victims. In the region only Macedonia and Croatia are in the first category of countries that scored the biggest success in this area. All the other countries, including the EU member states, do not meet the U.S. standards.

Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki stated following Tuesday's state leadership meeting on the name issue that Macedonia would invest maximum efforts to ensure progress in the talks on the name. Milososki also informed that Deputy Prime Minister in charge of implementation of the Framework Agreement Abdulhakim Ademi also attended this meeting as representative of the Albanians in Macedonia, adding that he would participate in all subsequent meetings.

 

Prime Minister Gruevski stated at the Sixth Annual Regional Conference of Transparency International for Europe and Central Asia, held in Ohrid, that Macedonia was determined to fight corruption and bring it down to the lowest level possible. Miklós Marschall, European and Central Asian regional director of Transparency International, said Macedonia had made big progress in fighting corruption, but had still a lot of work to do regarding implementation of laws.

- The ministers of foreign affairs of the EU member states adopted a conclusion Monday that visas for Macedonia and the other countries of the Western Balkans should be lifted as soon as possible. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said this was a historical moment when visa liberalization should be resolved before the Council of the EU.

- Macedonia has ten times more troops than Greece in the NATO peacekeeping missions around the world. From 2003 to 2009 Macedonian citizens as taxpayers paid a total of 34 million euros for the Macedonian Army's peacekeeping missions abroad. This is the price that Macedonia paid to be extended a "conditioned" invitation for joining NATO, additionally burdened with a requirement of having the name issue with Greece resolved first.

- There are no registered swine flu cases in Macedonia among humans or animals. However, Macedonia's healthcare system is on alert, in line with World Health Organization recommendations, to act efficiently in case of emergence of H1N1 virus in Macedonia, Health Minister Osmani informed at press conference, after World Health Organization declared global flu pandemic.

UN mediator Matthew Nimetz will meet with Zoran Jolevski and Adamantios Vassilakis, Macedonian and Greek representatives in the talks on the name, in Geneva on 22 June, while on 6 and 8 July he will visit Athens and Skopje respectively. The Foreign Ministry confirmed that the meetings have been scheduled, but they did not want to say whether a new proposal for resolution of the name dispute would be presented at the meeting in Geneva. This meeting is supposed to serve as preparation for Nimetz's visit to the two countries in July. Nimetz's Cabinet did not reveal any details about this meeting.

"Macedonia must not change the Constitution in the process of resolution of the name dispute with Greece and it must not accept a compromise that problematizes the identity of the Macedonian people. No representative of Macedonia has the right to negotiate on a solution that does not contain clear and unambiguous confirmation of the Macedonian language and identity." This is stated in the draft state strategy on the name, which will be put to a vote in the Assembly in one week. 

President Gjorge Ivanov reiterated Monday that he argued for a reasonable compromise on the name issue that would not affect the Macedonian identity. He stressed that people should not feel as if they have been denied the basic right to self-determination that every human being living on this planet has.

The old-new leader Branko Crvenkovski renovated the biggest opposition party Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia (SDSM), which has been faction-torn and has registered a drop in its rating. The cadre changes took place at the 10th SDSM Congress held in Ohrid on Sunday. Party Chairman Crvenkovski implemented radical cadre changes by not including old cadre, such as Radmila Sekerinska, Vlado Buckovski, and Ilinka Mitreva, in the new Central Committee.

- The political party of the Macedonians in Greece, Vinozito, sent Wednesday the footage of the incident that happened at the promotion of the Greek-Macedonian dictionary in Athens to all institutions of the EU and all organizations for protection of human rights. Before and during the promotion, a group of about twenty activists of the Greek fascist organization Hrisi Avgi meaning Golden Dawn obstructed the event crying out indecent words and damaging the equipment of the cameramen.

EU Ambassador to Macedonia Erwan Fouere and Macedonian Local Self-government Minister Musa Xhaferi promoted the start of the IPA Program for Cross-border Cooperation with Albania on Tuesday. All nonprofit organizations, business associations, and local authorities will be able to apply for these funds with projects in the spheres of economy, culture, tourism, and ecology.

The first call for applying for funds for small projects from 20,000 to 50,000 euros will be open until 3 August this year.

 

Macedonian PM Gruevski believes that visa liberalization for Macedonia cannot be postponed, because other countries in the region are not ready for it yet. Answering a journalist's question, he said that, "If other countries applying for visa liberalization are not ready and the EU decides not to lift visas in their case, I don't expect nor do I have any signals that Macedonia would be exempt or should have to wait for some other countries to become ready. I don't believe this will happen, because according to the EU announcements every case will be considered separately." He briefly commented on Kosovo President Sejdiu's decision not to come to Macedonia and the announcement that Pristina would apply reciprocity in its relations with Skopje. "Scoring of political points at home at the expense of the good neighborly relations is not going to take the region in the right direction," he said.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg stated in the Macedonian-language program of Voice of America that the United States of America would help as much as it can as regards the name dispute. He noted that there are many creative proposals for resolution of this dispute.

- Greece is going to obey the decision of the EU for lifting of visas, although it does not recognize the Macedonian passports. The Greek Embassy confirmed that Macedonian citizens would be able to cross the border to Greece without a visa. Athens is going to decide meanwhile what document it will require for registering the entrance and exit of Macedonian citizens.

- Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the EC, praised Macedonia Tuesday for its results with regard to the visa liberalization process. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that at the meeting Tuesday with Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki, Barrot said he was pleased with the police and justice system reforms and the fight against corruption. Minister Milososki said Macedonia expected a legal procedure to begin for lifting of visas based on an individual approach and visas to be lifted by the end of this year.

- A series of 300 earthquakes hit southeast Macedonia over the past three days. The residents of Strumica, Valandovo, Dojran and Gevgelija are spending the nights outdoors. The strongest earthquake of a magnitude of 4-5 on the European Macroseismic Scale shook the region at 1.22 on Sunday morning near Valandovo.

 

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski met Thursday the executive director of the Netherlands' Constituency at the World Bank, Ruud Treffers. The Macedonian prime minister presented at the meeting the current economic situation in Macedonia and emphasized the Government's commitment to attaining the two key goals: joining NATO and the EU.
"I am impressed by the commitment and the good policies and means with which the Government is handling the crisis," Mr. Treffers said after the meeting. 

PM Gruevski said Wednesday there was pressure from international factors for resolving the name issue. However, he said, no deadline had been set. He explained to reporters that consultations were being conducted constantly and that the authorities waited for the elections in Greece to be over and for Mediator Nimetz to make his next move before the Macedonian strategy was presented. Gruevski does not rule out the possibility for the Albanian parties that want to help to be included in the resolution of the issue.

Macedonia fulfills all conditions for liberalization of the visa regime, the European Commission concluded in its report on preparedness of the Western Balkan countries for liberalization of the visa regime. Macedonia received a top mark (5) in the spheres of security of personal documents and fundamental rights, which pertains to antidiscrimination measures and the Roma policy. The state received a lower grade (4) for the spheres of readmission and illegal migration and public order and security, which pertains to the fight against organized crime and corruption.

 

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov paid an official visit to Slovenia on 18 May where he met with Slovenian President Danilo Türk. Türk stressed that Slovenia remains a strong supporter of Macedonia's aspirations for EU and NATO membership. He said that he is pleased with the progress made by Macedonia in the process for EU integration and he expressed hope that the European Union would assess this progress positively in October this year. President Ivanov confirmed that Slovenia had always been a friend and supporter of Macedonia.

- Macedonian Foreign Minister Milososki is set to meet in New York a team of law experts preparing Macedonia's arguments in its name dispute with Greece before the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Macedonia is obliged to provide evidence in writing regarding its motion against Greece by the end of June to prove Greece had breached the Interim Accord. Greece will have to provide its response within the following 6 months.

- The state leadership is going to hold tomorrow its first consultative meeting as regards the name issue talks conducted under the UN auspices. President Gjorge Ivanov, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Macedonian Negotiator Zoran Jolevski and Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki are going to meet in the president's new office at Vodno. The negotiations will most probably resume following the elections for the European Parliament in Greece in June. According to Mediator Nimetz's last package of ideas proposed in October last year was that the name "Republic of Northern Macedonia" should be for international use and there should be double solutions concerning the language and ethnicity. While Macedonia rebuffed the proposal, Greek Ambassador to the U.S. Malias said in Washington last month this proposal was a good base for talks. Macedonian Prime Minister Gruevski said this was an old proposal that Greece tabled in the 1990s.

Macedonia is prepared to continue the talks on the name and it wants to find a solution to this dispute, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski stated at Wednesday's meeting with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn in Brussels. The prime minister also stressed that start of the negotiations for membership in the EU, liberalization of the visa regime, and decentralized management of the IPA funds remain Macedonia's priorities.

- Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov sent a letter Tuesday to U.S. President Barack Obama in which he says Macedonia is resolved to resume talks with Greece in order to come to a mutually acceptable solution that would respect our national identity, language and culture. He also says the last election showed Macedonia's commitment to promoting democracy. Macedonia will still be a loyal friend and partner of the U.S. in every respect, he says, mentions in this regard the recent ex-pansion of the Macedonian contingent in Afghanistan.

- In his inauguration speech, new Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said he was confident some of the issues straining the relations between Macedonia and Greece, particularly culture and tradition, have the capacity to be the bridge of cooperation and promoter of a new cycle of prosperity in the region. He said he would do all in his power to make sure the relations between the two countries grew in the spirit of good neighborly cooperation and mutual trust. "Undoubtedly we share common European values, we dream the same European dream, and we understand the Balkans as the cradle of European culture," President Ivanov said.

 

Gjorge Ivanov was officially sworn in as the fourth president of independent Macedonia at the formal inauguration ceremony held in the Macedonian Assembly today.

In his first address before the diplomatic corps, the presidents of a few friendly neighboring countries, and the parliamentarians of the Macedonian Assembly, Ivanov vowed to do his utmost for the well being of the state and all its citizens.

Gjorge Ivanov will be inaugurated as the Macedonian President at the Macedonian Parliament Tuesday. He will take an oath and hold his first speech before the MPs and the diplomatic corps. His inauguration will be attended by presidents of a few neighboring countries, too. The Interior Ministry plans to take special security measures and close the street outside the Parliament.

- The ministers of foreign affairs of Macedonia and Serbia, Antonio Milososki and Vuk Jeremic, agreed in Skopje Thursday that in spite of their differences in the perception of certain regional issues, the two neighboring countries had a shared priority agenda about the European integration of the whole region and joining NATO. This was the first visit of a Serbian minister to Macedonia since the straining of relations over Macedonia's recognition of Kosovo. New Macedonian Ambassador to Serbia Ljubisa Georgievski is leaving for Belgrade in a few days.

Fifteen members of the U.S. Congress sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in which they stress that they recognize Macedonia as an ally and a loyal partner. Headed by Bill Pascrell from New Jersey and Mark Souder from Indiana, the U.S. congressmen say in their letter that the Macedonian administration contributes to the stability of the southern Balkans and the implementation of the U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan, Kosovo and the Middle East.