There is no bird flu in Macedonia, Veterinary Administration director Slobodan Cokrevski said on Wednesday (19 October).

Cokrevski said that the tests showed that there is no presence of viral influenza or bird flu in Mogila, Nikuljane, and a few farms in eastern Macedonia. The birds died of the "Newcastle" disease.

The extermination of all poultry in the Bitola village of Mogila will start today by order of the State Veterinary Institute, the media report.

Macedonian Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski stated in the Royal Institute of Netherlands that Macedonia is making radically faster steps compared with the Balkan average.

A two-day business forum entitled "Possibilities for Industrial Cooperation and Investments in Macedonia", which will be attended by over 50 Italian companies, will begin in Skopje today.

The Macedonian Government will have endorsed the National Program for Adoption of Aoguis Communautaire by February next year, the Working Committee for European Integration of the Republic of Macedonia announced today.

The United States rejects any involvement in the name issue, and reaffirms its support for the UN process on the name issue. "We believe that if the parties want to solve the problem, they should work with Mr. Nimetz and work with each other to find a mutually acceptable solution," State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli stated at the briefing on 13 October.

Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva expects Macedonia to be evaluated in accordance with the Copenhagen criteria, aware that European values are achieved through successful regional cooperation.

In a meeting with the NATO Council in Brussels today, Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski reminded that in a time of dramatic changes the Alliance should use the historical chance of turning the Balkans into a region of lasting stability and progress by admitting the most advanced candidates.

The Government of the Republic of Macedonia accepts UN mediator Mathew Nimetz's proposal and believes that this proposal is a good basis for the resolving of the dispute over the differences on the name with Greece, Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski said this afternoon.

The latest proposal of UN mediator Mathew Nimetz and the international community is a serious basis for the achieving of an internationally acceptable resolution in the talks on the differences over the name between the Republic of Macedonia and Greece.

"Greece wants stability in the north and does not want any problems on its borders," NATO Policy Planning Director Jamie Shea said at a conference in Skopje.

Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski's office stated for Kanal 5 yesterday that the recent statements of Greek President Carolos Papoulias do not contribute to the improving of the relations between the two countries.

The government will continue with the process for privatization of ESM and it expects full privatization of the ESM distribution by March year 2006, on the basis of the recommendations of the international financial institutions.

We are preparing an assessment on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's application for full membership in the EU, and we plan to finalize this assessment by the end of this year, so that the negotiations for the country's membership in the EU could start on time.