Macedonia and Serbia do not have any open problems. There are only small issues that can be resolved very quickly and easily with political will, Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic said following their meeting in Belgrade yesterday, the media report.
Macedonia can count on Vatican's support for Macedonia's European aspiration, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said following his audience with the head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday. The Pope and the Macedonian prime minister discussed the relations between Macedonia and the Vatican.
The weapons confiscated from three Bulgarian trucks at the exit of Skopje last night are a legal shipment, part of the compensation between the Macedonian and Bulgarian Armies, Mirce Gjorgjevski, spokesman of the Macedonian Army General Staff, told the Macedonian journalists today. He explained that there was an oversight, because the trucks did not have proper escort.
There are no threats to the security of the territorial integrity of Macedonia. But the approaching of the date for resolution of the status of Kosovo brings certain risk, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski said yesterday following his meeting with the directors of the Intelligence Agency.
Speedy progress in the reforms could bring Macedonia a date for start of the negotiations for membership before the next annual European Commission report foreseen for November year 2007. This encouraging message was announced in Brussels yesterday by Finnish Minister for European Affairs Paula Lehtomaki, following the third regular meeting of the Council for Stabilization and Association between Macedonia and the EU.
Macedonia is expected to implement the laws and show reform results until the next NATO summit in year 2008, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki in Brussels yesterday.
A Macedonian delegation of the Stabilization and Association Council headed by MFA Antonio Milososki is considering Macedonia's progress in implementing the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SSA) as well as Macedonia's accession strategy, as a candidate for full-fledge membership, with EU officials in Brussels today.
•ZELS Annual Assembly, at which President Andrej Petrov is to report, takes place in Skopje. US Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic and German Ambassador Ralf Andreas Breth to address mayors.
•Macedonian delegation of Stabilization and Association Council headed by MFA Antonio Milososki starting talks with EU in Brussels.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer promised that he is working on seeing some Western Balkan countries become members of the Alliance during his mandate. His mandate expires in January year 2008 and he is convinced that he would fulfill his promise before the next NATO summit.
In the letter sent to the European leaders in the eve of the EU summit in Brussels next week, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi called on the European Union to set a date for start of the negotiations for Macedonia's membership in the EU.
The ruling VMRO-DPMNE maintained the high rating among citizens following the first 100 days of the new Government's mandate, while Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski still enjoys the biggest trust among citizens. These are the results of the opinion poll conducted by the Institute for Democracy.
We fulfilled that which we promised and we will continue to work with an intense tempo in the interest of the citizens, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said yesterday at the expiration of the first 100 days of his Government's mandate. He said that most work was done in the economy and the finances as a precondition for strengthening of the country.
The messages from Riga were the main topic of discussion at the National Security Council session held on Sunday under the chairmanship of Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski. The hour-long meeting was used for the members to inform each other about Macedonia's positions regarding membership in NATO, in light of the obligations that have to be fulfilled for the country to receive an invitation for membership in NATO in year 2008.
The Macedonian Government welcomed the closing declaration from the NATO Summit in Riga, assessing it as a big incentive for continuation and intensification of the reforms. Conveying the conclusions adopted at the special government session, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski thanked the NATO member-states and US President George Bush for their support.
Macedonia, represented by Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska, started the official talks with the European Commission on alleviating the visa regime with the EU in Brussels on Thursday.
Macedonia received an encouraging message from Riga that it could receive an invitation for membership in NATO in year 2008 if it fulfills the necessary criteria and standards.
US President George Bush expressed strong political support for Macedonia and the other two countries from the Adriatic Group at the NATO Summit in Riga yesterday, the media report.
"I hope that the Alliance will be able to offer membership to Croatia, Macedonia, and Albania in year 2008," Bush said.
Interview with Igor Ilievski, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia
Igor Ilievski was appointed State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 6th September this year. He is a career diplomat having worked in a number of Sectors of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and having completed a 4-year term of office in the Macedonian Embassy in Warsaw. His job is to coordinate the Sectors of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Embassies and Consulates of the Republic of Macedonia, or in short the entire professional service of the Macedonian diplomacy. A good reason for an interview with the Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin.
The Government will cover the old debts of the schools, it will secure computers for every student, it will build sports halls that will be run by the municipalities, but it will not give the building land to the municipalities. This is the result of yesterday's meeting between Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and the mayors, which was also attended by the education minister, the transport and communications minister, the local self-government minister, the finance minister, and the health minister.
A Macedonian delegation of the Stabilization and Association Council headed by MFA Antonio Milososki is considering Macedonia's progress in implementing the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SSA) as well as Macedonia's accession strategy, as a candidate for full-fledge membership, with EU officials in Brussels today. 
