The United States wants Macedonia to be the strongest candidate for NATO. The Macedonian president and prime minister know what the challenges are and they know what has to be done over the next six months, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried said in Skopje yesterday.

Following the talks with Fried, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said that "Macedonia is aware of its homework and it will do everything to provide its friends from the United States with an argument to support us for membership in NATO".

The US diplomat, who arrived in Skopje following his visits to Belgrade and Pristina, said after the talks with Prime Minister Gruevski that Macedonia's advantage as regards membership in NATO is the national consensus.

"There is a lot to be done, like the fight against corruption and organized crime and implementation of the Ohrid agreement and economic reforms. This has to be done over the next six months, after which NATO will conduct a revision of the candidate-countries' achievements," Fried stressed.