Greece is one of the EU member state with huge minority rights issues, for which it is being constantly criticized by the expert bodies for human rights of the UN and the Council of Europe.

The Alexander the Great Airport in Skopje reduced the rates of its services by 17 percent and the St. Apostle Paul Airport in Ohrid cut rates by 27 percent, whereby they became the cheapest airports in the region, Transport Minister Mile Janakieski informed.

The negotiations between Macedonia and the EU on the visa facilitation and readmission agreements ended in Brussels yesterday. The conclusion of the negotiations was followed by formal initialling of the agreements, the EU mission in Skopje reports.

Ambassador Erwan FOUÉRÉ for Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin

Europe is marking the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome which is seen as one of the fundamental milestones of today's European Union. With it we are celebrating 50 years of continuous unification and advancement of the European continent. If we look back to this period, we can only witness an impressive list of achievements as it has successfully established peace and generated economic and social progress, creating a Europe which has become a powerful example of how insurmountable problems can be overcome by nation states working together, given the political will and the right framework.

Ambassador Jovan Tegovski for Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin

2007 is yet another in the series of crucial years for the Republic of Macedonia, the Region, and this time round maybe for Europe too.

It is very certain that this year will be crucial, in the true sense of the word, for our country, primarily regarding the attainment of its strategic objectives - full-fledged membership of the European Union and the North-Atlantic Alliance. It is an indisputable fact that we have never been closer to that decisive step ahead. The step that will produce plenty of arguments for our European and Euro-Atlantic friends in favor of reaching the long anticipated decisions for starting accession talks with Macedonia and for inviting the country to join NATO.

"Macedonia will celebrate NATO's birthday, 4 April, next year as a candidate country with an invitation for membership in the Alliance," Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said yesterday.

The Agency for Electronic Communications announced a call Tuesday informing that companies should notify the Agency in writing by 10 May that they are interested in using the remaining free frequencies of the GSM 1,800 megahertz bandwidth for public mobile services.

The Interior Ministry started issuing new biometric passports with electronic chips yesterday, in accordance with the latest European standards for protection of documents for personal identification.

Culture Minister Ilirjan Beqiri will be replaced at the next government session over the scandal with the banning of the theater play "Tito", the premiere of which was held in Bitola on Saturday evening.

The World Bank today approved a US$30 million Second Programmatic Development Policy Loan (PDPL 2) for the Republic of Macedonia. The project will support the Government in its effort to improve the investment climate and strengthen public sector governance.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski did not attend the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the formation of the European Union in Berlin that was organized by the European peoples' parties because he had too many obligations at home, government Spokesman Ivica Bocevski said.

An EU Information Center was opened on Makedonija Square in Skopje yesterday. This is a project of the Secretariat for European Issues and it is part of the Government's program and strategy for informing and communicating with the public during the EU integration process. The opening of this center was supported financially by the Norwegian Government.

EU Commissioner for Expansion Olli Rehn said in the European Parliament today that the term FYROM is awkward, MIA reports.

"The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is a candidate country and I hope that the bilateral problem between this country and Greece will be resolved soon so that we do not use this awkward name anymore," Rehn said.

"There is no change in US's position on the Republic of Macedonia. We recognize your constitutional name and this will not change," US Ambassador to Macedonia Gillian Milovanovic stressed, responding to a journalist question on whether Washington is changing its position on the name following the inclusion of the abbreviation FYROM in the resolution adopted by the Senate.

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The US Embassy in Macedonia said yesterday that Washington is not changing its policy as regards Macedonia's constitutional name, stressing that they support the talks that are led under the auspices of the UN in New York. But despite such cemented position of the embassy, disturbing reports are coming from the United States. According to these reports, the Senate's resolution has to be technically harmonized with the resolution that was previously adopted by the House of Representatives, and these two will then be converted into one text, a law that will be signed by the president of the United States.

As long as we listen to the people and we see their troubles and problems, we will feel the responsibility, VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski told his fellow party members at the end of the party congress that was held in Stip.

The Macedonian Foreign Ministry delivered a verbal note of protest to Greek Ambassador to Macedonia Theodora Grosomanidou for the insulting slogans against Macedonia on the videotape of the military parade held in Thessaloniki on 28 October year 2005.

•Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Stavreski to discuss Russian clearing debt during official visit to Moscow.

•Trial for big sheepfold affair starts today. This affair is considered one of biggest organized crime affairs in Macedonia.

A Memorandum on the technical details for the organizing of a NATO security forum in Ohrid in June will be signed on Friday. This memorandum will be signed by Minister without Portfolio Adnan Kjahil and Berndt Getze, director of the department for organizing ministerial meetings and summits of NATO.

BDI assessed that the Badinter list should include approximately 85 laws. Through negotiations with the other parties, this list should be extended to include some laws necessary for harmonization of Macedonia's regulations with EU's regulations and a few projects that the Government is either yet to prepare or has already submitted to the Assembly.

The United States wants Macedonia to be the strongest candidate for NATO. The Macedonian president and prime minister know what the challenges are and they know what has to be done over the next six months, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried said in Skopje yesterday.

•US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Daniel Fried arrives on official visit to Macedonia, to discuss NATO and Kosovo.