“The Macedonian red line is a result of the fundamental civilization acquisitions of the human fight for freedom and therefore we will not succumb to any pressure in depriving our right for self-determination and self-identification,” stated President Gjorge Ivanov during his Thursday speech at the Skopje-based Faculty of Law on occasion of the International Human Rights Day.

Macedonia is unsatisfied with the outcome of the meeting of the Council of Ministers in Brussels, at which it was not set a date for starting accession talks. However, Macedonia is not giving up the Euro-integration process and talks for resolution of the name issue. It is not going to accept blackmails and ultimatums to renounce its identity either.

“Greece did not want a solution. It set conditions that no government or politician could accept. I directly told Papandreou on the last occasion we met that he would find no government over the next 100 years that would accept his demands and conditions,” Prime Minister Gruevski said in Bonn on Wednesday where he is attending the Congress of the European People’s Party.

After two days of sharp discussion, the EU Council of Ministers cancelled the debate on setting Macedonia a date for negotiation talks for a period of six months until the Spanish presidency. EU Diplomatic sources says that this is because Greek pressure. President Gjorge Ivanov stated Monday that Macedonia wants to become a part of Europe but not at all cost and that we will not give in to pressures for a name change. Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is unsatisfied by the outcome from Brussels’ meeting which according to him was a sophisticated variant of Bucharest. “We are Macedonians and we want to become EU members as Macedonians,” stated Gruevski at the Tuesday forum “New Era of the Balkans” in Brussels. Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Milososki described this as a new-blockade Greek hypocrisy. The opposition is disappointed by the Government concerning the name issue. SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski stated Tuesday that we should not miss this chance to solve the name issue. NSDP leader Tito Petkovski stated that he will not comment Macedonia’s foreign policy as long as Gruevski is the Prime Minister and does not come to his senses.

 

Turkey sees Macedonia as a full-fledged member of NATO and Greece should let Macedonia call itself Macedonia and stop concerning itself with unimportant matters in the interest of the stability of the whole region,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the opening of the Office of the European Union in Istanbul, Turkey, at which Prime Minister Gruevski was invited, too.

Both prime ministers underlined that both countries’ goal was meeting the standards for joining the EU.

“Our countries know that on our way to the EU there can be rises and falls, as well as quick and slow steps,” Prime Minister Gruevski said.

The Brussels-based correspondents of the Macedonian media report that diplomats are looking for a compromise formulation for the conclusion for Macedonia on 7 December, which will not reflect a Greek veto and will at the same time stand for support for Macedonia for being set a date for starting accession talks.

- Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said after meeting Prime Minister Gruevski that he backed the setting of Macedonia a date for starting accession talks. Finland is the last country in PM Gruevski’s tour, during which he lobbies with all EU member states for setting Macedonia a date for starting membership negotiations.

Croatian President Stipe Mesic advises Macedonian government to keep name issue out of EU accession talks with arbitrage.

 

After meeting Macedonian Prime Minister Gruevski, EC President Jose Manuel Barroso said there was political will between Macedonia and Greece to resolve the open issue and that now was the time for both countries to do it. Barroso said Macedonia made exceptional effort in the process of integration, meeting the criteria for starting accession talks. PM Gruevski said that the dialogue with Greece had been good as never before but there was still no palpable progress regarding the open issue.

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has its first official meeting with EC President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday afternoon.  European diplomats believe this meeting will be an attempt on the part of the EU to assume a more serious role in seeking out a resolution to the name issue between Macedonia and Greece.

- After the meeting with Greek Prime Minister Papandreou and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Droutsas in Athens, Tuesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Milososki stated that the Greek veto restraint of the negotiation talks will have a positive effect on the name issue settlement.

As of 19 December Macedonian citizens will be able to travel across Europe without visas. This decision was brought in Brussels by the Council of Ministers of Interior and Justice of the EU member-countries. The elimination of the visas is valid only for those who possess biometric passports. Annually, Macedonian citizens took out around 200,000 visas and spent over 10 million euros. President Gjorge Ivanov welcomed the decision for the visa liberalization and stressed that it presents a huge step closer to the EU. Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski expressed his great satisfaction for this historical decision saying that it is recognition for Macedonia’s progress in the European integration. The Minister of Interior Gordana Jankulovska and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are satisfied by the visa abolition. SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski welcomed the decision for the visa liberalization and expressed hope that the Macedonian citizens will take advantage of it.

After their meeting in Pili, Greece, on Friday, the Macedonian and Greek Prime Ministers, Gruevski and Papandreou, retained their positions regarding the resolution of the name issue, which, according to Macedonian media, let down diplomats in Brussels.

- Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski hopes that Macedonia is to be set a date for start of EU membership negotiations and assures that Macedonia remains active in the negotiations of the name issue with Greece. Gruevski sent this message in a letter to heads of states and governments of EU countries.

Carl Bildt, Swedish Foreign Minister and EU chairman, said after meeting PM Gruevski and before leaving Skopje Friday morning that he did not believe that Greece would veto Macedonia again. He refused to specify what his expectations from the meeting between Gruevski and Papandreou on Friday in Pili, Greece, were. However, he said he hoped meetings like this would be positive and would contribute to closer regional cooperation. He believes that the problem between Macedonia and Greece is a bilateral issue and that it depends on both prime ministers whether certain progress is made or not.

- The Swedish Minister of Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, arrived Thursday evening to Skopje in an unannounced visit to Macedonia. Bildt had a three hour long conversation with PM Nikola Gruevski and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Milososki.

Ljube Boskoski, leader of United for Macedonia, accused Prime Minister and VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski of being responsible for the campaign aiming to discredit his personality and eliminate him from Macedonia’s political stage in the light of the video just recently posted on YouTube, which, according to Boskoski, has been taken out of context with the aim of showing that Boskoski made a statement, harming  Johan Tarculovski to avoid serving time at Scheveningen.

The European Parliament adopted the strategy for EU enlargement which recommends the EU Council of Ministers to recommend the opening of pre-accession negotiation talks for Macedonia on 7 December. Read More

 

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed Monday the meeting of the prime ministers of Macedonia and Greece set for Friday.

“I believe that the effort both countries are making is a good sign. It is clear that our recommendation for negotiations is strong encouragement to resolve the name issue. And, of course, I want the European Council of Ministers to adopt our recommendation for negotiations with FYROM,” he said.

On Friday 27 November, a meeting will be held in Prespa, on Greek territory between Prime Ministers Gruevski and Papandreou.

 

The Prime Ministers of Macedonia and Greece, Gruevski and Papandreou, are going to meet before the meeting of the Council of Ministers set for 7 December in Brussels, at which it should be decided whether Macedonia should be set a date for starting membership negotiations.

Vreme speculates that Greece and Macedonia are pressurized by the international community to resolve the name issue and to reach some kind of compromise. Diplomatic sources told Vreme and A1 TV that the date of the meeting is being kept secret in order to avoid public pressure in both countries.

Diplomatic sources say that the prime ministers are expected to reach an verbal agreement over the new name, which is speculated to be “Northern Republic of Macedonia”, and add that Skopje and Athens are urged to begin talks regarding the scope of the international use of the new name. According to the same sources, the Gruevski-Papandreou meeting should take place by no later than 2 December when the Macedonian prime minister is scheduled to meet EC President Jose Manuel Barroso.

According to this scenario, the Council of Ministers is going to set Macedonia a date on 7 December. It is speculated that accession talks will begin in April 2010, at the same time when talks with Iceland should begin.

On Thursday President Gjorge Ivanov refused to attend the reception organized by Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs in Belgrade Vuk Jeremic. Ivanov was disappointed by the last statement of Jeremic that Belgrade supports Greece's stance in the name row with Macedonia. Nevertheless, on Thursday Ivanov met with his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic in Belgrade after which the cabinets of Macedonian and Serbian presidents Gjorge Ivanov and Boris Tadic sent a joint statement in which they say that Serbia recognizes Macedonia under its constitutional name, that both presidents welcome Greece’s initiative for the Western Balkan countries EU accession by 2014 as well as finding a solution for the church dispute between the Macedonian Orthodox Church  and Serbian Orthodox Church and that they agreed that the Kosovo issue will remain open in the bilateral relations.

Negotiate directly and provide a palpable proof that you are making progress, if you want EU support in December, Brussels says. The Swedish Chairman of the Council of the EU, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, told Deutsche Welle on Tuesday that Skopje and Athens were expected to negotiate directly so that swift progress could be made. Diplomats in Brussels say that Macedonia could be set a date for starting accession talks in December provided it is demonstrated that the talks are producing concrete results, Dnevnik reports.

- PM Nikola Gruevski who is on a two day visit to Great Britain, is to meet with John Berkow, speaker of the House of Commons, on Thursday.

- The Macedonian delegation headed by the President Gjorge Ivanov is to attend the funeral of the Serbian Patriarch Pavle in Belgrade.

In the capacity of chairman of VMRO-DPMNE, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski sent a letter to all party members Tuesday, calling on them to mobilize. According to A1 TV, Gruevski says in the letter “it is time for a final battle against politicians that left behind waste and misery and brought apathy, crime, lies, and twisted values. It is time to thwart their attempts for taking Macedonian citizens and Macedonia hostage again.”

Gruevski calls in his letter for aid from his supporters in ending the decades-long strenuous transition. He explains that the global economic crisis has come in the way of this effort but the biggest impediment of all is the transition politicians’ reactivation.

- President Gjorge Ivanov sent letters to the presidents of the EU member states, calling for support for setting Macedonia a date for starting EU accession talks on 7 December. He believes this would confirm the reputation and credibility of the Union in the region and is going to contribute to stability and progress.

 

The Republic of Macedonia remains dedicated in the UN-sponsored negotiations and despite the extreme positions of Greece, Macedonia expects Athens to stay observant to the benchmarks of the temporary agreement.  This was established at Monday’s Government consultations. Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki stressed that the extreme demands of Greece did not present a big surprise to Macedonia. Milososki stated that ambassador Jolevski is going to keep political parties informed of the negotiation talks. Present at the meeting was the President Gjorge Ivanov, PM Nikola Gruevski, Depury Prime Minister Abdylaqim Ademi, Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Milososki and Ambassador Zoran Jolevski.

Macedonia and Greece are getting ever more distant from reaching a compromise over the name issue, Dnevnik says today, and, according to Utrinski vesnik, the political public in the country follows very attentively how the situation, which becomes dramatic, develops.

Nova Makedonija and Vecer appeal for termination of talks, citing the Greek demands that are almost identical to those of 1992. Not only does Greece want the name to change for international use, but it also demands that the name for internal use, as well as the name of the nation and language change. Macedonia would be only allowed to use “Republic of Macedonia” inside the country in an informal communication. Greece also demands that Macedonia instructs all 126 countries that have recognized it with its constitutional name to accept the new name. The present use of “Macedonia” for commercial reasons would be unacceptable. The international code MK will also have to change. Greece insists that “Northern” precedes “Macedonia” in the new name.  

Prime Minister Gruevski refused to comment on the maximalist Greek demands. Diplomatic sources told Dnevnik that the Macedonian Government offered nothing new and did not express readiness to finish the whole process by 7 December. It is also possible for the reason for these Greek demands to be Macedonia’s announcement that it would cut off talks if it gets vetoed again in Brussels.

- Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Vasko Naumovski sent letters to the EU member states asking that the country be set a date for starting accession talks on 7 December. The letter explains that the perspective for starting talks sooner is going to motive all factors in the country to conduct reforms, as Macedonia will stay committed to resolving the name issue in a constructive and flexible way in the spirit of the European cooperation and good neighborly relations.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said Wednesday that the second Greek veto, this time round on the setting of a date for starting EU accession talks, would mean that Athens did not want to resolve the name issue. He said he hoped the Council of Ministers would set a date for starting talks with Macedonia in December and that the other side in the dispute would thus demonstrate a will to solve the problem. He believes the Greek veto on Macedonia’s accession to NATO was bad for everyone.

Macedonian Foreign Minister Milososki asked in Brussels that Macedonia and Greece should resolve the issue by the model of Croatia and Slovenia. He expressed readiness for the solution to be looked for in direct meetings between Skopje and Athens. According to Utrinski vesnik’s correspondent, the Macedonian minister elevated this to the level of an official position at the debate of the foreign policy committee of the European Parliament. According to Milososki, every delay is going to discourage Macedonia, especially the young generation wishing to see their country in the EU.