EU’s Fouere says too early to assess Macedonia’s prospects

SKOPJE, Macedonia

EU representative to Skopje, Erwan Fouere, said on Tuesday (August 4th) that it is too early to assess Macedonia’s chances of getting a date for starting EU accession talks. Fouere declined to comment on the upcoming European Commission progress report expected this fall, saying Macedonia must implement the necessary reforms and prove its readiness to open accession talks.

He added that resolving the long-running name dispute with Greece is important but not crucial to Macedonia’s EU bid. Fouere also urged the opposition Democratic Party of Albanians to avoid a threatened boycott of parliament in the coming weeks.