The Republic of Macedonia and the United States will announce furthering of the partnership between the two countries in Washington today, but it is not certain whether this will be made official with a signed document. Dnevnik has learned from diplomatic sources that a document would be signed in which the United States will express strong support for Macedonia’s stability and security.

Macedonia and the United States will sign a document for “furthering bilateral cooperation” between the two countries in Washington on Wednesday. The document will be signed immediately after the meeting between Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Two big coalitions – "For a Better Macedonia", which is led by VMRO-DPMNE and consists of 19 parties, and the coalition "Sun – Coalition for Europe", which is led by opposition party SDSM and includes eight other parties – will run against each other at the early parliamentary elections on 1 June. A union candidate list and an independent candidate list, headed by Kavadarci Mayor Panco Minov, were also submitted to the State Election Commission. The remaining candidate lists were submitted by other parties and smaller coalitions. Experts assess that the undecided voters will determine the outcome of these elections, as well as the total voter turnout. If the voter turnout is over 60 percent, there is a chance of the opposition scoring better results at these elections.

The Summit of Heads of State of Central Europe was opened in Ohrid today with an address by Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski. The Macedonian president thanked the presidents for their participation in this summit, stressing that Macedonia’s key strategic objectives are integration into NATO and the EU. President Crvenkovski emphasized in his introductory speech that the name dispute was used to block Macedonia’s accession to NATO. He underlined that Macedonia is prepared for a fair resolution, but that it is not prepared to accept anyone’s dictate.

Ohrid is ready to host 17 presidents and 2 ministers of the countries of Central Europe at a summit on 2-3 May. The 15th meeting of the heads of state of Central Europe will begin with an informal dinner organized by Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski on Thursday.

The talks on the name dispute will continue in New York today. Nikola Dimitrov, Macedonia’s representative in the talks on the name, will meet with UN mediator Matthew Nimetz today. Nimetz will hold another meeting with Dimitrov on Wednesday, after which the UN mediator will meet with Adamantios Vassilakis, Greece’s representative in the talks on the name, on Thursday and Friday.

 

The injustice that is being done to us is nothing new. It can only help us grow stronger and more united in the defense of our national and spiritual identity and the preservation of everything that is Macedonian. We are obliged to observe our centuries-old past and the present, because this is the only way in which we can secure a lasting Macedonian future, Macedonian Orthodox Church Head Archbishop Stefan stated in his Easter message to all believers.

Serbia and Russia’s opposition to the demarcation of the border on the part with Kosovo complicates the situation and could create further tension in the region, experts warn. At a closed session of the UN Security Council, these two countries expressed opposition to Macedonia and Kosovo’s process for demarcation of the border, arguing that this is a state issue of Serbia.

 

The European Parliament adopted the progress report on the Republic of Macedonia today. As part of this report, the European Parliament also adopted a decision that the bilateral dispute on the name between Macedonia and Greece should not impede the process for Macedonia’s accession to the European Union. The report was adopted with 601 votes “for”, 52 votes “against”, and 30 “abstentions”.

Athens asked recently that Ambassador Erwan Fouere, special representative of the European Union to Macedonia, be dismissed from this post, Dnevnik has learned from diplomatic sources in Brussels. These sources, who wanted to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of this issue, say that the Greek ambassador to Brussels presented such demand at the meeting of the Political and Security Committee of the EU “because Fouere does not represent the interests of the 27 EU member countries. With this he wantonly breached his duty, as a result of which he should be urgently dismissed from his post”.

Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday, informing him about Athens’s violation of the Interim Accord from year 1995 at the recent NATO Summit in Bucharest.

“The Republic of Macedonia consistently observes the legal obligations that it assumed. Unfortunately, the other side is not demonstrating the same commitment to the assumed obligations, which was confirmed with the recent flagrant violation of Article 11 of the Interim Accord.

The political parties are intensively preparing in the field and holding talks on formation of pre-election coalitions.
 

Greece should also demonstrate readiness for a compromise in the name dispute, German President Horst Koehler said in Skopje yesterday. The German president, who is on a three-day official visit to Macedonia, appealed "to the Greek Government to demonstrate readiness for a compromise so that we can say in a few months that the name dispute has been resolved".

President Branko Crvenkovski and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski agreed to continue the talks on the name dispute, regardless of the upcoming early parliamentary elections, UN mediator Matthew Nimetz said following yesterday’s meetings with the state leadership in Skopje.

•Government will request official explanation from Greece why it forbade MAT from flying to destinations in this country.

•UN mediator Matthew Nimetz arrives in Macedonia to meet with Macedonian state leadership.

Nikola Dimitrov, Macedonia’s special representative in the talks on the name dispute, made a mistake by giving statements concerning the ongoing talks on the name, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski assessed yesterday. The prime minister stressed that it is unusual for the chief negotiator to give statements on the progress of the talks and to call for continuation of the talks on the basis of a national platform that would be accepted by all political parties.

President Branko Crvenkovski and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's Cabinets reacted with restraint yesterday to the appeal of Nikola Dimitrov, special representative of Macedonia in the talks on the name dispute, that Macedonia continue the talks on the name on the basis of a national platform that would be accepted by all political parties in the country.

Nikola Dimitrov, Macedonia’s representative in the talks on the name dispute, believes that the state should adopt a platform for resolving of the name dispute.

Early parliamentary elections will be held in Macedonia for the first time, on 1 June this year. Assembly Chairman Ljubisa Georgievski scheduled the sixth parliamentary elections just a few hours after the Assembly adopted the initiative for dissolving of the Parliament. In the special address to the nation, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski assured citizens that the early elections would be democratic, adding that the opposition is unnecessarily warning of dark scenarios.

President Branko Crvenkovski and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski had a meeting late Thursday to discuss a motion for the Parliament dissolution, calling of early elections, and the EU and NATO agenda, MIA (Macedonian Information Agency) reported.

The Macedonian Assembly started the debate on the initiative for calling early parliamentary elections. The majority rejected opposition party SDSM's request for a few points to be added to the agenda: change of the make-up of the State Election Commission and regulating of the manner in which the parties will be presented in the media during the elections.

The Assembly will open a debate today on dissolving of the Parliament and calling of early parliamentary elections. There are big chances of early elections being called, after ruling party VMRO-DPMNE and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski supported BDI's initiative for early parliamentary elections. The opposition, led by SDSM, strongly opposes this initiative.

•VMRO-DPMNE's executive committee will propose to the party's central committee to take a decision for dissolution of the Parliament and calling early parliamentary elections.

•U.S. Ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland to hold talks with Macedonian state leadership in Skopje.

Official Athens reacted sharply yesterday to the statement of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried, who stated publicly that a Macedonian nation and Macedonian language exist. At the press conference in Washington dedicated to the NATO Summit in Bucharest, the Greek journalists asked questions concerning Macedonia's name. But they received a cold shower from the representative of the U.S. State Department.

•BDI officially launches initiative for dissolution of Parliament.

Macedonia must not withdraw from the talks on the name dispute with Greece, even though Athens wantonly violated the Interim Accord from year 1995 by blocking Macedonia’s accession to NATO. Experts are united in the position that canceling of the talks would represent defeat for Macedonia’s policy, warning that with such decision the state would be sending a bad message that it does not want to resolve this problem.