Macedonia seeks support for accession talks date

Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki sent a letter to EU counterparts Saturday (December 4th) seeking their support at this month’s Council of Europe meeting for a date to start accession talks with Macedonia. In his letter, Milososki noted his country’s progress in the past year and a general agreement within the bloc that Macedonia is ready to enter the next phase of its accession process. “Macedonia will continue its reforms aimed [at making] progress in its efforts to implement EU standards,” Milososki said in the letter, particularly in the areas of the state administration, the judiciary, fighting corruption, implementing the Ohrid Framework agreement and further legal, institutional and administrative alignment with EU legislation and policies. He also said his government remains committed to resolving its long-standing name dispute with Greece.