Macedonia extended immense gratitude to the United States and President George W. Bush for their friendship and huge help in the process of Macedonia's NATO integration. Macedonia will continue its strategic friendship with the United States as its biggest capital for stabilization of the region, said Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki at the NATO summit in Bucharest.
Macedonia has failed in obtaining a NATO membership invitation at the Bucharest Summit. Alliance leaders agreed at Thursday's North-Atlantic Council meeting that an invitation would be extended once the name issue is resolved.
Greece blocked the invitation for membership for Macedonia yesterday. “The Greek Government is very clear. Until the name issue is resolved, there can be no consensus on accession of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,” NATO Spokesman James Appathurai informed at the press conference late last night.
"Historic decision" for the NATO enlargement with three new countries - Macedonia, Albania and Croatia - will be adopted at the NATO Summit in Bucharest.
"USA strongly support the accession of the three countries to NATO", emphasized U.S. President George W.Bush in his address at the Trans-Atlantic Forum, organised by the German Marshall Fund in US, held within NATO Summit in Bucharest, MIA reports.
The Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia will not debate on the name issue until it becomes clear whether Macedonia will receive an invitation for membership in NATO, whether UN mediator Matthew Nimetz’s last proposal for resolution of the name dispute is final, and whether Greece will veto Macedonia’s accession to NATO, a senior VMRO-DPMNE official stated.
Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki presented at the summit in Slovenia Macedonia's position that Matthew Nimetz's proposal was final and that the country was assuming its stance to it.
Macedonia's state and political leadership concluded following a series of meetings and consultations that UN mediator Matthew Nimetz's last proposal for resolving of the name dispute with Greece over the use of the Republic of Macedonia's constitutional name is final. The definite position on this proposal will be formed at an assembly session on Monday.
Experts, intellectuals, and political leaders believe that Macedonia should accept UN mediator Matthew Nimetz’s last proposal for resolution of the name dispute, “Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)”. President Branko Crvenkovski and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski were expected to voice support for this proposal at their meeting with Nikola Dimitrov, Macedonia’s representative in the talks on the name dispute, last night. The general belief is that, by accepting this proposal, Macedonia will significantly improve its negotiating position in the eve of the NATO Summit next week. But these experts advise that the original English version of this proposal should also be analyzed carefully so as to detect all the legal finesses.
Macedonia must not gamble away this opportunity to receive an invitation for membership at the NATO Summit in Bucharest, and it should accept UN mediator Matthew Nimetz’s last proposal “Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)”, with some corrections, Petkovski and Andov assess.
- Republic of Macedonia (Skopje) is name that UN mediator Nimetz presented at talks in New York on Monday. Greece rejected this proposal, while Macedonian state leadership will reveal Macedonia’s position today following Nikola Dimitrov’s return from New York.
UN-appointed Macedonia-Greece name talks mediator Matthew Nimetz announced Tuesday that both countries had been given a single proposal for resolution of the 17-year-old dispute. This is a fair, compromise and reasonable solution containing a geographic determinant, he said. Nimetz expects negotiators Dimitrov and Vassilakis to receive a positive response to thisproposal from their governments.
The meeting of the mixed Macedonian-Kosovo commission for demarcation of the border has been postponed, government Spokesman Ivica Bocevski informed today. The reason for this postponement is that the Kosovo authorities are still not prepared, A1 cites Makfax. Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuqi said today, "The Government in Pristina has still not formed its commission for this issue". Spokesman Bocevski stressed, "Macedonia is prepared to start the process for demarcation of the border immediately", A1 reports.
VMRO-DPMNE and PDSH agreed to start resolving the demands that PDSH leader Menduh Thaci presented to Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski as a condition for his party to remain in the Government.
The United States officially took the wheel in the talks on the name dispute. The results are already visible, considering that they succeeded in raising the level of the talks to talks between ministers. A meeting has been scheduled between Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis for today, in Brussels. The two foreign ministers will have to discuss how the talks on the name will develop in these last 10 days before the NATO Summit in Bucharest. Unlike the talks so far, where UN mediator Matthew Nimetz was the chief mediator, Daniel Fried, U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, will assume this role in Brussels.
Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski will invite the SDSM, PDSH, and BDI leaders to consultations today regarding UN mediator Matthew Nimetz's last proposals for the name dispute, government sources informed. Gruevski will also meet this evening with Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski and Macedonia's representative in the talks on the name Nikola Dimitrov.
•President Crvenkovski will not comment on proposals presented by UN mediator Matthew Nimetz at talks in Vienna on Monday until state leadership builds joint position.
•FM Milososki assesses that none of UN mediator Nimetz’s three proposals are acceptable as resolution. This is position that PM Gruevski will present to party leaders at separate meetings.
PDSH leader Menduh Thaci held a meeting with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski yesterday at which they discussed fulfillment of Thaci's six demands as a condition for PDSH to return to the Government.
Instead of supporting the Greek authorities against Macedonia for having published a book about his grandfather, French President Sarkozy should learn more about the great suffering of the Jews in Greece after the First Balkan War and the First World War, Macedonian historians say.
The minority government, which will govern until the NATO Summit in April, will function without the PDSH officials, after this party called on the Albanians on Sunday to withdraw from the Government. This call was conveyed by Deputy Prime Minister Imer Aliu, who accused Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski of being “an irresponsible person who is pushing the citizens toward a conflict”. PDSH decided to take such step following Prime Minister Gruevski’s interview for the state news agency MIA on Saturday, in which he stated that Menduh Thaci’s party is blackmailing the Government by withdrawing from the same. Gruevski stated in this interview that one of the reasons for PDSH’s withdrawal from the Government could rest “in the agenda and scenarios of other countries, like Greece, Serbia, Kosovo…”.
•PM Gruevski: Macedonia has capacity to cope with challenges.
•Prime Minister Gruevski will meet with President Crvenkovski and leaders of biggest political parties today, at consultations on current political situation.
Prime Minister Gruevski met Thursday with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis in margins of meeting of European rightist parties in Brussels, at initiative of U.S. Ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland. Gruevski said after meeting that both sides remained on their positions, but that mere fact that they met was good sign.
The U.S. Embassy in Skopje calls on the political leaders in Macedonia in this critical time for the country to focus their energy on joining NATO. Its official announcement says that Macedonia is presented with a golden opportunity to join NATO, which the country deserved following the strenuous and successful reforms and efforts over the past few years. The name issue with Greece remains an obstacle, but the political stability is the crucial element for every NATO candidate country.
The PDSH Central Presidency will adopt a decision tonight to withdraw from the Government, PDSH Chairman Menduh Thaci said today. "We are talking about hours, not days, when PDSH will withdraw from the Government," Thaci said today, following the meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia Gillian Milovanovic. Menduh Thaci is also expected to meet with EU Ambassador to Macedonia Erwan Fouere tonight.
The United States is preparing a new package for resolving of the name dispute that will include the last proposal of UN mediator Matthew Nimetz, Vreme has learned from diplomatic sources. American diplomats are holding intensive talks with the Macedonian and Greek Governments to ensure that the final proposal is acceptable to both sides.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland most probably will be the new mediator in the talks on the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece. However, this information has not been confirmed yet, Dnevnik reports. The talks on the name will remain under the auspices of the United Nations and the U.S. ambassador will only assist the process, which UN mediator Mathew Nimetz has led since the start.
The United States is fully taking over the role of mediator in the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece. Vreme has learned that although UN mediator Matthew Nimetz is still the formal mediator in this dispute, American diplomats will also mediate directly between Skopje and Athens. Indirect proof of this is U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Daniel Freed’s surprise visit to Skopje this weekend. Freed notified the Macedonian state leadership that the United States would try to find a resolution for the name dispute that would satisfy both Macedonia and Greece and which will help avoid a crisis in NATO, by the summit in Bucharest in April.
Macedonia achieved great success over the last few months and it can show that it is prepared to start the negotiations for membership in the EU, under the condition that it implements the key reforms and criteria, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn assessed.
Rehn stressed in Skopje that the European Union had never been more committed to the European perspective of the region, whose ultimate objective is accession to the EU. “Year 2008 could be a historic year in the process for accession of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the EU,” Rehn said after the meeting with Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.
