Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski expressed satisfaction with the results achieved in the first 100 days of this Government’s mandate and he stressed that the Government had realized over 90 percent of that which it promised in its program. The opposition criticized the Government for the bad results in the economy and foreign policy.

- Assembly will hold debate today on NSDP’s initiative for adoption of joint strategy as regards name dispute with Greece.

The Macedonian Foreign Ministry condemned the nationalism and chauvinism demonstrated at the military parade in Thessaloniki on 28 October. The Foreign Ministry will react and inform the international organizations about this incident. “This time we will not send a note of protest to Alexandra Papadopoulou, head of the Greek Liaison Office in Skopje, because there is no need for her to comment on our notes of protest,” Deputy Foreign Minister Zoran Petrov said at yesterday’s press conference.

Macedonia’s representatives in talks on name dispute meet with UN mediator Matthew Nimetz in New York and inform him that Macedonia would not trifle with its national identity.

Macedonia’s representatives in the talks on the name dispute, Nikola Dimitrov and Martin Protoger, departed for New York on Tuesday to meet with UN mediator Matthew Nimetz and convey Macedonia's coordinated and clear position as regards protection of the national interests.

 

United States of America expects Macedonia to continue UN-led talks on name dispute so as to secure positive finish as regards accession to NATO, Stuart Jones, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, says following meeting with Prime Minister Gruevski and Foreign Minister Milososki in Skopje.

Professor Ljubomir Frckoski’s secret witness, who attested that Security and Counterintelligence Department structures were involved in the assassination attempt on former President Kiro Gligorov, gave a deposition to the Public Prosecutor on Monday, the media report.

- Macedonia’s representatives in talks on name dispute Nikola Dimitrov and Martin Protoger will hold meeting with UN mediator Matthew Nimetz in New York on Wednesday. Greek representative Adamantios Vassilakis has not been invited to this meeting.

Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska and Public Prosecutor Ljupco Svrgovski met on Saturday to discuss the new evidence concerning the assassination attempt on former President Kiro Gligorov. Former Interior Minister Ljubomir Frckoski wrote in his column in Dnevnik last week that there is a key witness in the assassination attempt on Gligorov in year 1995.

As part of the preparations for the forthcoming Regional Economic Forum of the member states of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) zone, a number of meetings have been held in Zagreb, Skopje, Tuzla, Sarajevo and Podgorica. It has also been confirmed that most of the delegations from the countries participating in the Forum will be headed by ministers or deputy ministers of economy, while Bosnia and Herzegovina will also be presented by the Prime Minister of the Federation, Dr. Nedzad Brankovic, and the Vice President of the Government of Republika Srpska, Jasna Brkic. The Forum will be opened by either the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Dr. Ivo Sanader, or the Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister, Damir Polancec. The gathering will also be addressed by Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic.

India has decided to recognize Macedonia with its constitutional name. The Indian Government informed the Macedonian Foreign Ministry on 6 October this year that the newly-opened Macedonian Embassy in New Delhi is registered in India’s state diplomatic protocol with the country’s constitutional name Republic of Macedonia, and not with the provisional name “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”.

- President Crvenkovski and Prime Minister Gruevski will hold meeting today to coordinate their positions on UN mediator Matthew Nimetz’s last package of ideas for resolution of name dispute.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said yesterday that he had not read EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn’s last message, in which he stated that Macedonia does not deserve to be given a date for start of the negotiations for membership in the EU. For this reason, the prime minister did not want to comment on this statement during his visit to Veles yesterday.

- An economic team of the Macedonian Government, headed by deputy Prime Minister Zoran Stavreski, is leaving for Bulgaria today to consider the possibility for energy cooperation. The experts believe the only way out of the energy crisis is for Macedonia to sign a power supply deal with the Belene nuclear power plant.

- The financial crisis has dealt a heavy blow to the shoe-producing and textile industries in Macedonia. In the region of Kumanovo, shoe-producing facilities' orders dropped by 80 percent. Managers say the state has to cut duties to help some 2,000 people keep their jobs. Textile businesses are losing orders too, as a result of which the share of this industry of Macedonia's total exports dropped from 46 to 36 percent. Managers fear massive redundancies bearing in mind that foreign investors would start looking for cheaper labor force.

- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed the information released by Greek media that Mexico would start referring to Macedonia as FYROM as sheer speculation. Ministry officials say Mexico was asked to confirm the validity of this information.

Macedonia will not reject in full UN mediator Matthew Nimetz’s new package of ideas for resolving of the name dispute, but it will submit remarks about a number of sections in this proposal.

- Russia will continue to support Macedonia with regards to recognition of country’s constitutional name, Macedonian Foreign Minister Milososki states following meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski informed NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Brussels yesterday about the incidents in the Lerin (Florina) region, Greece. NATO Spokesman James Appathurai stated at a press conference, “the Secretary General has no position on this issue nor does he intend to raise this issue before the allies”.

The Macedonian Foreign Ministry delivered a note of protest to Alexandra Papadopoulou, Head of the Greek Liaison Office in Skopje, over the detaining and expelling of Macedonian journalists and TV crews from the village of Zabrdani (Lofi), Lerin (Florina) region, in northern Greece. Deputy Foreign Minister Zoran Petrov delivered the note of protest.

One person sustained minor injuries and four Macedonians were detained following the clash between inhabitants of the Florina region in Greece and the Greek Army on Monday. The local population protested 10 days ago against the Greek Army’s military drills in this region, after which the Greek troops withdrew. Yesterday the Greek Army returned to this region, reinforced with strong police forces and mechanized army vehicles. When the local population tried to stop them, the Greek police special forces intervened.

UN mediator Matthew Nimetz’s last proposal is not acceptable to Macedonia and serious changes should be made to this proposal for the Macedonian authorities to continue the talks on the name dispute. Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and President Branko Crvenkovski expressed similar views as regards this proposal, that is, that Nimetz’s last package of ideas cannot be a basis for resolving of the name dispute.

The Macedonian Government adopted a decision late last night to recognize the independence of Kosovo. Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki stated at a press conference that Macedonia would establish diplomatic relations with Kosovo soon. He explained that this decision is the result of exhaustive political appraisal and he assessed it as a good basis for permanent stability and new Euro Atlantic perspectives of the region.

“Republic of Northern Macedonia” or the abridged form “Northern Macedonia” for international use. This is the proposal that UN mediator Matthew Nimetz presented to the Macedonian and Greek representatives in talks, Nikola Dimitrov and Adamantios Vassilakis, at the meeting in New York on Wednesday.

The leaders of the four biggest parliamentary parties in Macedonia reached an agreement as regards the amendments to the Election Code and Constitution at their meeting yesterday. The leaders agreed that the diaspora should be able to vote as of the next parliamentary elections; that new members of the State Election Commission should be elected and that the chairperson of this commission should be from the opposition; and that the presidential and local elections should be held on 15 March year 2009. The party leaders also supported SDSM’s proposal that the threshold in the second round of the presidential election be reduced from 50 to 40 percent. BDI abandoned its proposal for the Assembly to elect the president of the state, while PDSH withdrew its demand for an Albanian to be elected vice-president.

The leaders of the parliamentary parties and President Branko Crvenkovski failed to coordinate their positions on the name issue at their meeting on Monday. This means that Nikola Dimitrov, Macedonia’s representative in the talks on the name dispute, and his associate Martin Protoger, chief of staff of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, will go to the meeting with UN mediator Matthew Nimetz in New York today without a coordinated state position on the name.