Macedonia does not have a problem with the European Union, but an EU member state has a problem with us. What will happen if we accept all Greek demands? That list of demands will never be closed, said Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov in an interview with a number of Macedonian media in New York. However, as in his address at the forum of the UN General Assembly, he expressed optimism that the name issue with Greece could be overcome and added that in the talks in New York there had been a lot of positive details that he could not present to the public considering the nature of the dispute.

 

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who had a fringe meeting within the session of the UN General Assembly in New York Thursday, agreed that Skopje and Athens should build mutual trust by sending positive messages and refrain from negative statements.

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done and the report on Macedonia’s progress that the European Commission should release in November is going to reflect the achieved progress, EU Ambassador Erwan Fouere said Wednesday after the working breakfast organized by Deputy Prime Minister Vasko Naumovski, attended also by the ambassadors of the EU member states. According to Fouere, it is evident that there are weak spots yet he hopes that the Government has sincere intention to overcome them as soon as possible.

In the run-up to the EC report, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Deputy Prime Minister Vasko Naumovski are going to have a meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule in Brussels Thursday at which he is expected to reiterate that in addition to the good assessments of the EU officials, the resolution of the name issue remained crucial in setting a date for opening membership negotiations.

The assertions that the Macedonian Government blocked the talks for joining the EU in 1995 are wrong and that can be proven. The EU membership at that moment was simply not an option. This is how the rapporteur on Macedonia in the European Parliament, Zoran Thaler, joined the ever fiercer debate between VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM and their leaders over whether Macedonia had a chance in the 1990s to join the EU and NATO under the reference of FYROM.

Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki referred to Greece’s conduct as nationalistic whim, adding that Macedonia made too many concessions and could no longer pay the price of that country’s irrational conduct. That was Minister Milososki’s response to the question of whether Macedonia was going to take the example of Serbia, which renounced 15 percent of its territory for the European integration, making a concession regarding the name issue that would unblock the European Union accession talks.

A team of monitors from Eurostat, a body of the EU, is going to oversee the census to be taken on 1-15 April next year in order not to bring into question the trust of the census results and not because of the state’s incapacity to take it on its own, said Blagica Novkovska, director of the State Statistical Office.

In her view, the “light monitoring” unlike the classical one is carried out in countries that are professionally prepared to take a census, yet hire monitors because of the trust of the census results.

- Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said in Brussels he hoped the EU would appreciate what Macedonia had accomplished and expects a positive report from the EC. According to Milososki, this will be yet another confirmation of Macedonia’s capacity to open accession talks.

- President Gjorgje Ivanov met Thursday in Brussels with European Commission's President Jose Manuel Barroso. Barroso praised Macedonia on the reforms and announced that the name issue will be solved soon.

Citizens of Macedonia, let me congratulate you tonight on a free, sovereign and independent Macedonia, the first President of the Republic of Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov, declared Macedonia’s independence in the evening of 8 September 1991 before the gathered crowd in the square in Skopje.

 

A good concept that yields results through work, dedication, responsibility and accountability. The Government’s good policies benefit businessmen, farmers, students, administration staff and other categories of citizens for whom tax rates have been cut, and salaries and pensions have been increased. Faculties are being opened and many other reforms, which have not been undertaken for 20 years, are carried out. This is how Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski described the Government’s four-year rule in his Friday televised address.

- Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki in an interview with Radio Free Europe said that there are attempts in Greek circles of imposing certain solutions that have the intentions to contest the Macedonian nation, language and culture. According to Milososki, at the meeting with Nimetz, Macedonia’s leadership will once again emphasize what the red lines are that the leadership will not recede from.

SDSM is getting back to the parliamentary coordination meetings and has quit the conditions that it set to vote for the new Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, as well as the idea to form a separate parliamentary committee to control the audit reports, said SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski Wednesday. The office of the EU in Skopje welcomed the decision, while the government dubbed it as a cheap trick.

Crvenkovski explained that the Social-Democrats decided to take this step so that the government stops using them as an excuse for the negative report of the EC in November.

- Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki announced that the Macedonian delegation will have a meeting with mediator Matthew Nimetz in New York in end September. He has no information whether Nimetz would put forward a new proposal.

Portugal is giving Macedonia full support in its Euro-Atlantic integration. Our position is identical with that of the EU and the UN. The so-called name issue should be resolved as soon as possible because our main objective is for Macedonia to begin negotiations for full-fledge membership as soon as possible, said the Secretary of State for European Affairs of Portugal Pedro Lourtie.

He paid a visit to Macedonia Tuesday and met with Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Vasko Naumovski and Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki. Mr. Lourtie stressed that Macedonia made big progress in carrying out the reforms and in meeting the criteria for membership of the EU and NATO.

Macedonia is most probably going to abstain from voting on the Serbian resolution on Kosovo at the UN on 9 September. This is logical considering that Macedonia recognized Kosovo in October 2008 and at the same time insist on keeping friendly relations with Serbia.

 

Macedonia must not be seen only through the prism of the name. This is a country of 2 million people with problems and advantages and we are doing all in our power to solve this issue, said Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski after meeting his Austrian counterpart Werner Faymann in Salzburg over the weekend. A reception was hosted in Salzburg for the leaders of Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro as yet another confirmation that official Vienna wants stability in the Western Balkans.

German MEP and lobbyist for Macedonia Bernd Posselt defended Thursday Martin Trenevski as a great choice for Macedonia’s ambassador to NATO.  Asked how he saw Trenevski’s contentious thesis, Posselt, who is member of the Pan-European Union, whose president in Macedonia was Martin Trenevski for years, referred to Trenevski as “pioneer of the European integration in Macedonia”.

Between 10 and 15 September, name issue mediator Matthew Nimetz is expected to call a new round of name issue talks, high-ranking diplomatic sources confirmed for Nova Makedonija.

Nimetz is returning to New York on Monday and so, according to our sources, it is real to expect the talks to resume in the second decade of September rather than early next month.

- The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, believes that in certain countries including Macedonia there is no longer a need for special representatives of the EU. There is an ongoing discussion over whether a special envoy of the type of EU Ambassador Erwan Fouere should be appointed in Macedonia in the future. Under the new EU regulations, the EU Office in Macedonia will represent the European Council too and not just the European Commission as has so far been the case.

German MEP Doris Pack is not going to press charges against President Ivanov following his telephone explanation that it was reporters who misinterpreted his recent briefing in Ohrid. It was reported then that MEP Pack told Ivanov that in 1995 Macedonia missed the chance to start talks with the EU and NATO under the reference of FYROM. She denied having said that and threatened with a lawsuit. President Ivanov suggested journalists to investigate and find out why Macedonia refused the offer.

The meeting of the General Assembly of the UN to be held in end September will be attended by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski instead of President Gjorge Ivanov, Vreme reports. This is interpreted in the light of the pressure on Macedonia and Greece that is expected to increase in September in order to resolve the name issue by the NATO Summit in Lisbon in November whereupon Macedonia could join NATO. Analysts do not rule out the possibility for yet another meeting between Gruevski and his Greek counterpart Papandreou in New York.

An immense pressure is being put on Macedonia to resolve the name issue, while Greece is not pressurized by anyone, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said in Ohrid Friday. In his view, the problem has taken so long as a result of the political mistrust between the two countries.

“We are trying to create a climate for building mutual trust between the two nations starting from the lowest level,” Ivanov added.

There is nothing new regarding the name issue. Mediator Matthew Nimetz is active, had contacts with both parties and we are waiting for his next move, said Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski Thursday. He underlined that Macedonia was constantly active in the process and in all the activities initiated by the mediator.

“Whether there is some special round of talks, a visit from Nimetz or a special event, I cannot predict because he knows best. Anyhow, Nimetz keeps the pace of contacts, communication and consultations. What happens next depends on him,” Gruevski said.

- As of this year, the Government of Canada will officially mark the national holiday, Ilinden- Day of Republic. Macedonia is the fifth country for which a traditional ceremony will be held at which the orchestra of the Canadian guards dressed in ceremonial uniforms will play with traditional Scottish bagpipes outside Canada’s Parliament. Hundreds of Macedonians will attend the ceremonial protocol of changing flags, informs Macedonia’s ambassador to Ottawa.  

 

At the meeting with his Albanian counterpart Ilir Meta, Macedonia’s chief of diplomacy Antonio Milososki expressed satisfaction by the excellent political relations that Macedonia nourishes with Albania, which should be an example of bolstering the energy and infrastructural cooperation between both countries, especially for the realization of Corridor 8.

Meta on his part requested a complete and efficient implementation of the Ohrid Agreement, which, as he said, had an important meaning for the stability of Macedonia and its European agenda. Meta stressed that that he would urge Albanian political parties in Macedonia to contribute to its EU integration and to heighten their rights by participating in institutions of the system.

Both Ministers spoke positively of the (ICJ) International Court of Justice’s ruling on Kosovo’s status.

“We assess positively the decision, namely the ruling of ICJ regarding Kosovo’s status, which was instigated by Serbia and we believe that this goes in the service of opening a fresh chapter of dialogue and cooperation in the region,” said Milososki.  

Meta on the other hand believes that the Court’s ruling will help Serbia to head on its own European path.

Both Milososki and Meta agreed that ICJ’s ruling will not cause restructuring of borders in the region.

The European Commission does not alter the last year's recommendation for opening of Macedonia's EU accession talks, Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said Tuesday in Brussels after the Seventh Meeting of Macedonia – European Union Stabilization and Association Council, MIA reports.
“It was a rather significant meeting, taking place in crucial period as we were trying to answer the question whether Macedonia's reform process had stalled or not. I have to say that we have had a positive meeting as we have been insured that instead of stalling the reform pace has gained new momentum,” Fule said at a press conference.

The Seventh Meeting of the Republic of Macedonia – European Union Stabilization and Association Council will be held on Tuesday in Brussels. At the meeting, the participants will discuss the achievements of the Republic of Macedonia in the EU accession process, as well as the political and economic criteria, the implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, the financial cooperation and the adapting to the EU Acquis. The annual meeting will be chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium Steven Vanackere. The meeting will also be attended by Commissioner Stefan Fule, whereby, from the Macedonian side, the Council will be co-chaired by the FM Antonio Milososki. Deputy Prime Ministers Abdylakim Ademi and Vasko Naumovski will also be a part of the Delegation of the Republic of Macedonia.

During the celebration of emigrants in Trnovo, representatives of SDSM dressed themselves in t-shirts with the picture of arrested farmer Ilievski. PM Gruevski briefly stated that the country’s laws apply to all, regardless of their party, religious or ethnic background. Representatives of SDSM said that Dusko Iliveski is punished only because he spoke at the rally organized by the opposition and that he fought for the rights of the deceived dairymen. Meanwhile, in Bitola and Skopje, VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM party representatives collect signatures, ones for Ilievski’s release while others against the spread of drugs. Under the motto “Eternal Macedonia”, the 30th Pan-Macedonian Border Meeting, organized by Association of Macedonians from the Aegean Part of Macedonia-Bitola, was held in village Trnovo on Sunday at which a message was conveyed for uniting and a strong battle for the basic human right and freedom for national equality and preservation of the constitutional name.  

 

PM Nikola Gruevski on Thursday met with French Minister for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche. Macedonia’s PM assured Lellouche that despite Greece's objection to Macedonia's EU, NATO membership, the Government has been working on the modernizing the society and meeting the EU membership standards. The government is trying to reach a mutually acceptable solution to the name dispute, imposed by Greece, within the UN-sponsored process.
Lellouche also met with Macedonian President Gjorgje Ivanov, Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and Deputy PM for European Affairs Vasko Naumovski.
During Thursday’s joint press conference with Deputy PM for European Affairs Vasko Naumovski, Lellouche stated that France supports Macedonia on the road to Euro-integration and wants the country to assume its deserving spot in the EU, since this is in the interest of regional stabilization and the Union. The name dispute with Greece is an issue that two sovereign states need to settle, stressed French Minister Lellouche.

British Prime Minister David Cameron in the letter addressed to Macedonian counterpart Nikola Gruevski says that the United Kingdom will continue to provide strong support to Macedonia's EU and NATO integration, welcoming the country's progress in the Euro-integration process. Cameron explained that the name dispute with Greece is a difficult issue but if PM Gruevski but that his leadership will be recognized if he is able to reach agreement. At the same time, Cameron expresses his appreciation for Macedonia's continued and steady contribution to NATO's efforts in Afghanistan.