Italy is the second EU member country after Slovenia to openly support Macedonia's efforts for starting the negotiations for membership in the EU, Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said following yesterday's meeting with Umberto Ranieri, chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Italian Parliament. Milososki stressed that Italy is doing this openly, which does not mean that Germany is not doing the same. Although there has never been an explicit statement of support for Macedonia by Germany, Milososki said that things are moving forward. We should not forget that we started to work on establishing stronger contacts with Berlin only recently, while Croatia, for example, has been doing this for years, Milososki said.