MIC - Macedonian Information Centre -

MILOSOSKI: WE WILL NOT RESPOND EMOTIONALLY TO MESSAGES FROM PARIS

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:45:37 +0200

With regards to the policy proclaimed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who accused Macedonia of being an undemocratic country and openly supported Greece in the name dispute, Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said that the Republic of Macedonia would not assume any special measures as regards its bilateral relations with France.

MACEDONIA REMAINS COMMITTED TO NATO DESPITE SUMMIT IN BUCHAREST

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:06:42 +0200

The Republic of Macedonia remains committed to NATO and EU integration, despite the summit in Bucharest. NATO is one of Macedonia’s priorities, as well as the country’s partner, and this remains the state’s official position. This position was reaffirmed by Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and Defense Minister Lazar Elenovski at the forum “Security in the Balkans, NATO after the Summit in Bucharest” in Skopje yesterday.

HeadLine

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:31:23 +0200

•French President Sarkozy tells his Macedonian counterpart Crvenkovski the name should stop being an obstacle to Macedonia s accession to the EU.

BDI TO ENTER NEW GOVERNMENT

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:32:10 +0200

The Democratic Union for Integration (BDI) will enter the new government. This is the result of the talks led between mandatary Nikola Gruevski and BDI leader Ali Ahmeti over the last few days, Vest reports. Gruevski and Ahmeti have already agreed on the chief contours of the future government and this new coalition could be made public as early as today, party sources said.

DEMARCATION OF BORDER ON PART WITH KOSOVO STARTS

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:52:12 +0200

The demarcation of the border between Macedonia and Kosovo started yesterday with the laying of a boundary column at the junction of the three state borders of Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania. The first boundary column was placed at the location known as Serupa, on Sar Mountain, at 2,100 meters above sea-level, in the presence of representatives of Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania, and representatives of the international community.

MACEDONIA DEMANDS RIGHTS FOR AEGEAN MACEDONIANS

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:05:10 +0200

For the first time in the talks on the name dispute, Macedonia raised the issues of rights for the Macedonians deported from Greece and rights for the Macedonian minority in Greece.

UN MEDIATOR NIMETZ TO VISIT SKOPJE TODAY

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:15:46 +0200

UN mediator Matthew Nimetz will arrive in Skopje today where he will meet with Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski and Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

HeadLine

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:12:57 +0200

•Rosemary DiCarlo, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, is paying an official visit to Macedonia today.

EFFORTS ARE BEING MADE FOR BOTH BDI AND PDSH TO ENTER GOVERNMENT

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:49:09 +0200

Mandatary Nikola Gruevski gave BDI leader Ali Ahmeti and PDSH leader Menduh Thaci room to decide whether they agree to join the future government together. Gruevski proposed to Thaci and Ahmeti that they enter the new ruling coalition together and that they share five minister posts between them. The mandatary gave them one week to think about this proposal. The daily comments that it is not certain whether these parties will accept this proposal considering the big antagonism between them.

MILOSOSKI: MACEDONIA RESOLVED TO MEET ALL EU INTEGRATION CRITERIA

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:11:23 +0200

Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki stressed at the Tuesday summit in Brussels dedicated to the Balkans that Macedonia was resolved to meet the tasks required for joining the EU. However, as a small country Macedonia is worried that additional unprincipled conditions and obstacles which are not at all part of the Copenhagen criteria may also be set. "The EU should respect the principles it sets and evaluate the progress of the candidate countries on that basis. An EU member state abuses a bilateral name issue, puts pressure on Macedonia to renounce its right to national self-determination and blocks its European integration," he said.

GRUEVSKI RECEIVES MANDATE FOR FORMATION OF GOVERNMENT

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:25:49 +0200

Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski gave the mandate for formation of the new government to VMRO-DPMNE Chairman Nikola Gruevski yesterday. Immediately after this, Gruevski started talks with PDSH and BDI on formation of a new ruling coalition.

STATE LEADERSHIP HOLDS CONSULTATIONS ON NAME ISSUE

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:38:26 +0200

The Macedonian state leadership held an hour-long meeting in the President’s Office yesterday with regards to UN mediator Matthew Nimetz’s upcoming visit to Macedonia this Friday. It was a

NEW PARLIAMENT CONSTITUTED

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:57:38 +0200

New Macedonian Assembly was constituted on Saturday. VMRO-DPMNE’s Trajko Veljanovski was elected assembly chairman, receiving votes of 79 of 114 parliamentarians. BDI supported Veljanovski’s designation to this post, while PDSH boycotted constituting of Assembly, maintaining that results of repeated voting were suspicious.

Gruevski receives support from the European right-wing parties

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:17:10 +0200

- Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski received support from the European right-wing parties in Brussels as regards Macedonia's date for starting accession talks.

PRIME MINISTER GRUEVSKI: EU BENCHMARKS ARE OUR PRIORITY

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:54:43 +0200

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski met with EU Special Envoy for Security and Foreign Policy Javier Solana in Brussels yesterday. Gruevski said after the meeting with Solana, “The obligations ensuing from the eight benchmarks will be our top priorities. We will try to complete them as soon as possible so that the country could move forward as soon as possible. We will do this, not just because of the European Union, but also for ourselves and for a better life of the citizens of Macedonia”.