Macedonia

The EU still does not have an ambassador to Macedonia. The procedure for the election of the new diplomat has been launched and some 17 candidates gave applied so far. The new EU ambassador is expected to be appointed by mid-September.

Stefan Fuele is due in Macedonia on Monday, conducting a closer inspection of recent reforms enacted with a view to meeting EU demands. Fuele’s visit comes one month before the expected publication of a European Commission report on the country.

The two Balkan countries on Thursday in Sofia signed a Euro-Atlantic cooperation memorandum in which they agreed to put past feuds behind them. 

Serbian President Boris Tadić will hold separate meetings with his Croatian, Montenegrin and Macedonian counterparts in Belgrade on Thursday. The meetings will be held ahead of the 9th UNESCO summit of Southeast European heads of state.

Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Poposki will pay official visit to Croatia on Monday. Poposki’s visit to Croatia is part of his first mini Balkan tour since he was elected as the new foreign minister of Macedonia. He will meet Croatian President Ivo Josipovic and his Croatian counterpart Goran …

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has said that Skopje needs to look at the future from a different angle. Borisov wonders whether going back in history is the best way to go in time when the country needs an economic growth and good infrastructure. 

Macedonia’s name dispute with Greece must not be used as an excuse for failing to fulfil EU reforms, the country’s minister in charge for EU affairs says. During her first adress before the Parliamentary Commission on the EU, Teuta Arifi announced a September 5 deadline for all ministries to complete …

Head of the EU mission in Macedonia Peter Sorensen on Wednesday held farewell meetings with Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Poposki. Sorensen left for Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he will be an official representative of the EU. At the meeting with President Gjorge Ivanov the …

Philip Reeker, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, who is on a visit to Macedonia, met with the country’s new Defence Minister Fatmir Besami. After the meeting Reeker said that the strong partnership between Macedonia and the US will continue. The diplomat, however, remarked that the US …

The leader of Macedonia’s largest ethnic Albanian party has recommended international diplomats step in to help the country resolve its long-standing name dispute with neighbouring Greece. The dispute, which is hampering Macedonia’s attempts to join NATO and the EU, has been going on for more than three years.