Two decades of the fall of the Berlin wall, Macedonia is trying to topple another wall – the Schengen wall – and to make progress in the process of European integration. This is one of the messages of the public debate that on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall took place at President Gjorge Ivanov’s residence Monday.

The Macedonian president said some of the problems Macedonia faced now were a result of the Cold War and the incapacity of the political structures to take timely action and cut off completely all ties with the old system. According to the Macedonian president, one of those problems is the name issue. He said he hoped that the lustration process would help Macedonia lustrate itself from this “gangrene” that does not let normal development of the new system.

- Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki is going to address the foreign policy commission of the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday and call for support for setting Macedonia a date for starting accession talks. He will also reaffirm Macedonia’s achievements in the implementation of the priorities of the European Partnership and the Copenhagen Criteria. He will also meet the European Parliament rapporteur on Macedonia, Zoran Tahler.

- The Euro Balkan Institute issued a brochure sending out a message that Macedonia’s decision to step out of the name issue talks is completely legitimate if it assesses that it is justified. This institute believes the identity must not be a subject of discussion under any circumstances since it concerns the right to self-determination.

Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said Thursday that Matthew Nimetz’s initiative to set the next round of talks between Macedonia and Greece for 16 November is right on time and likely to give a new impetus to the dialogue between the two countries. Milososki also said direct meetings between high-ranking officials from both countries were also possible.

“Our position in the dispute and the dialogue will be such that will ensure that the negotiating process moves ahead.  Also, everything will be in keeping with the constitutional norms of the Republic of Macedonia and in the spirit of the Interim Accord of 1995,” Minister Milososki said.

- The Macedonian leadership welcomes the continuation of the talks under UN auspices set for 16 November in New York. The talks are said to be conducted over the scope of use of the name “Republic of Northern Macedonia”.  Both parties had numerous remarks regarding this proposal, but have never rejected it.

The European Parliament is going to consider today the report on Macedonia from the Parliament’s new rapporteur Zoran Tahler. Utrinski vesnik’s Brussels-based correspondent says that Tahler was shocked by the fact how fast he was put on the agenda for debate and how little time he had to finish his report.

The correspondent reports that the resolution of the European Parliament, requesting of the countries of the Western Balkans to do all in their power to resolve the bilateral disputes was debated Wednesday, too. 

- Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki met in Brussels Dominique Tielmans, senator from Belgium and president of the Group for Cooperation with Macedonia, and expressed gratitude to all the efforts Belgium made in helping Macedonia’s European integration. The senator said Belgium would continue helping Macedonia’s European integration for it believes in the future of the country, which was currently facing a huge challenge.

Macedonia may avoid the Greek veto at the EU in December provided it signs a guarantee that it is ready to resolve the name issue over a certain period of time, diplomatic sources assess.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski categorically confirmed Friday that the name issue resolution had to be verified by the people in a referendum.
“The name dispute is a historical matter and only people can decide it. Politicians, on the other hand, may only voice their opinion. For me, this is a closed matter. Without asking people what they think of the proposed resolution, the name issue cannot be solved,” the prime minister said.

The Prime Ministers of Macedonia and Greece, Nikola Gruevski and George Papandreou, held their first official meeting in Brussels on Thursday, at which the main topic was the name issue and the possibility for both parties to reach a mutually acceptable solution.

This was the first meeting of prime ministers of Macedonia and Greece since 2006 when Vlado Buckovski met Kostas Karamanlis. Dnevnik reports today that both prime ministers agreed it was important to find a mutually acceptable solution under UN auspices. A diplomat from Gruevski’s Office, Dnevnik says, confirmed there would not be direct talks between Athens and Skopje and the EU would not assume the role of a mediator. 

 

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski called on the new Greek government to attribute to the name issue top priority and to seriously approach the resolution of this problem, because the policies of blockades do not contribute to making progress in the region.

At the press conference with EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana in Brussels on Wednesday, the Macedonian prime minister stressed that Macedonia remained committed to its reform, which the European Commission has recently assessed as positive and has therefore recommended accession talks. Gruevski did not answer a reporter’s question as to whether or not a referendum should be held in Macedonia on this issue, while Solana said a referendum was not the best solution to problems in parliamentary democracies.

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is to meet with European commissioner Olli Rehn and EU high commissioner Javier Solana in Brussels, today.  Journalists speculate possible bilateral meeting of Gruevski-Papandreou on the sidelines of the EU summit.

 

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd signed a social insurance agreement in Canberra Monday. Some 4,000 citizens of Macedonia and Australia will thus be able to exercise their right to pension more easily. Prime Minister Gruevski was welcomed with the highest state honors, which may be seen as a positive sign that the Australian position to recognizing Macedonia’s constitutional name is changing.

The Macedonians from the diaspora should all be united in meeting Macedonia’s strategic and national interests, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said Sunday at his meeting with Macedonians in Australia, who, in his view, are an integral part of the Macedonian social fabric.

Defense Minister Zoran Konjanovski met his new Greek counterpart Evangelos Venizelos in Sofia, Bulgaria, at the sidelines of the meeting of ministers of defense of Southeast Europe. The Macedonian defense minister invited his counterpart to visit Macedonia.

“I had a brief conversation with Minister Venizelos. I invited him to visit Macedonia either officially or unofficially.  We talked about continuing cooperation between our two ministries and armies that was in a way interrupted in 2007,” Minister Konjanovski said.

The Government is considering drafting a media law, Vest has learned. The paper says this has been discussed at Prime Minister Gruevski’s office. The principal argument in favor of adopting such a law is said to be the intention of bringing order to the media industry. People close to the prime minister say the law on media is not an unknown practice in the EU.

The Association of Journalists also believes it is necessary to bring order to the industry and its President Robert Popovski argues the law should be drafted by reporters rather than be imposed by the Government.

- Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said Tuesday the bilateral issue with Greece was very important, Macedonia devoted to it great attention and would do anything to solve it. “However, we expect the shared European values to be in the foreground and the European integration not to be held hostage of bilateral problems,” he said in response to EC President Barroso’s message that the accession talk recommendation should be an encouragement to both parties to resolve the name issue.

All media comment that the date for starting accession talks with the European Union depends on whether the name issue between Macedonia and Greece is resolved. Following the euphoria of the good news from Brussels, newspapers say that the Government is forming teams to start the talks and intensifies contacts with the business community, which is expected to provide suggestions about the chapters pertaining to the economy.

While commentaries from Greece mentioning the “Greek national red line”, according to which “FYROM is not going to be set a date for starting EU accession talks unless the name issue is resolved”,  are being given much attention in Macedonian media, Macedonian government officials reiterate that they remain fully committed to starting membership negotiations.

 

President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov is satisfied with EC recommendation and believes that this is an important step for all Macedonian citizens. 

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski stated that yesterday was a historical date for the citizens of Macedonia and added that Macedonia is to continue carry out reforms.

The European Commission recommended opening of accession talks between the EU and Macedonia, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said at the press conference in Brussels today, at which the report on Macedonia’s progress for 2009 was presented.

“The country made considerable progress and successfully addressed the key reform priorities, also known as 8+1 benchmarks. The European Commission believes the country meets the Copenhagen criteria and these elements made it possible for the EC to recommend membership negotiations. I believe the Government in Skopje is going to see this as a very strong impetus and an encouragement to finally resolve the name issue, which has been here for 18 years now,” Rehn said.

- Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki was given a guarantee from Olli Rehn in Brussels that Macedonia would be given today a recommendation for starting EU accession talks. Minister Milososki was also notified that the EC would not condition the recommendation with the resolution of the name issue with Greece.

Macedonia is going to be given a recommendation for starting accession talks, which is not going to be conditioned. However, Macedonia will be reminded that the resolution of the name issue is the only obstacle on the country’s path toward the EU, a diplomatic source from Brussels says. Greece is said not to have opposed this broad formulation.

- Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki is taking part in the informal meeting of the foreign ministers of the Process for Cooperation in Southeast Europe in Istanbul today. The new Greek Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, George Papandreou, is going to attend the meeting as well. The Macedonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Milososki was set to have a few bilateral meetings. There is no information though if he will meet Papandreou, too.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski expects “Brussels to properly evaluate the achievements, progress and effort made” in the coming report on Macedonia.

“We are doing all in our power to improve the weaknesses pointed out in the previous report of the European Commission and the benchmarks. I believe and hope that the European Commission is going to reward the achievements, progress, effort and energy we invested as a government and in general as a state and citizens,” said Prime Minister Gruevski in Stip on Wednesday.

- Vasko Naumovski, Deputy Prime Minister for EU integration, said the Government expected a fair report from the European Commission. He believes that Macedonia’s success as regards the reforms is evident and that it is hard to question it with other arguments.

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski appealed to his new Greek counterpart George Papandreou to meet him in near future. In his greetings on the occasion of Papandreou’s election as new prime minister, Gruevski says he is sure that the message they would send to the region would be “a reflection of a more profound cooperation and understanding between our two neighbor countries and nations.”

- Slovakia backs Macedonia’s integration with NATO and the EU and expects the country to be issued a positive report from the EC this month and granted visa liberalization at the onset of 2010. This was concluded at the meeting of Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico in Bratislava on Monday.

The successful referendum in Ireland, according to the Macedonian authorities, means one problem fewer for the process of Macedonia’s Euro-integration. On the other hand, the opposition believes that the Macedonian Government will no longer be able to use the EU’s internal problems as an excuse for the delays in this process. According to the civic sector, the enforcement of the Lisbon Treaty is going to provide Macedonians in Bulgaria and Greece with a new mechanism for protection of their rights.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said this “is a step ahead for Macedonia on its path toward EU membership.”

“There is only one or two obstacles left. However it seemed that the previous failed referendum in Ireland was the biggest impediment to the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, which makes clearer the situation as regards the European Union’s enlargement,” PM Gruevski said.

The decision of the MANU presidency to stop the sale of the Macedonian Encyclopedia so that it can be corrected is only quenching of the raging fire threatening the interethnic relations, while the crucial steps are yet to be taken, sources from the Academy told Dnevnik.

The paper says that MANU President Gjorgi Stardelov is expected to resign even before the extraordinary assembly of MANU, at which the responsibility of the academicians will be discussed, is held. The same sources say Stardelov’s responsibility is all the more bigger considering that it is revealed on a daily basis that the Encyclopedia bearing the logo of MANU is not problematic only as regards the entries about ethnic Albanians but regarding almost all segments.

MANU (Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts) stopped the distribution of the disputed Macedonian Encyclopedia and distanced itself from the entries that have stoked up serious interethnic tension over the past ten days. This decision was taken by the MANU presidency on Wednesday in the wake of the fierce reactions concerning certain parts of the edition.

Although in circles of the Academy it was speculated Wednesday that editor-in-chief Blaze Ristovski might leave the project, it did not happen.