Macedonia

I don’t believe that it will come to a veto situation, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who arrived unannounced late Thursday in Skopje, said. He believes that Gruevski-Papandreou meeting, set to be held today in the Greek part of Prespa Lake, will improve regional cooperation.

The prime ministers of Macedonia and Greece are set to meet today in a fresh bid to resume dialogue ahead of EU Council meeting in December, when Macedonia expects to get a nod for start of EU membership talks. The two prime ministers are to meet this evening in the …

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt visited Skopje Thursday on the eve of a meeting of Macedonian and Greece officials aimed at resolving an 18-year-old name dispute, officials said. Bildt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, met Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki, the government said …

The head of Macedonia’s junior governing party, the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, Ali Ahmeti has expressed optimism about a possible solution to the on-going name row with Greece.

“There cannot be a start of EU accession negotiations without a prior resolution of the name issue,” Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas said. Droutsas’ remarks appear on the Greek foreign ministry’s website. “It is in the hands of the FYROM government and Mr. Gruevski himself to abandon their intransigent …

Slovenian Interior Minister Katarina Kresal said on Tuesday that Slovenia wants Macedonia to join the European Union as soon as possible and her country will support Macedonia’s EU entry bid. Visiting Slovenian Minister Kristina Kresal and Macedonian Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska signed a grant agreement on behalf of their countries. …

The European Commission has high hopes from the forthcoming Athens-Skopje high level talks slated for Friday, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told media. The two countries’ Prime Ministers, Greece’s George Papandreou and Macedonia’s Nikola Gruevski, are expected to discuss modalities that should ultimately lead to the lifting of a Greek blockade …

The prime ministers of neighboring Macedonia and Greece, Nikola Gruevski and George Papandreou, will convene on Friday to talk about ways of resolving their 18 years long name row. The two will convene at the sidelines of a trilateral climate change meeting between Albania, Macedonia and Greece which will take …

The Netherlands will support visa liberalization and the start of Macedonia’s EU accession talks, Dutch Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin said on Monday. He made the remarks after the signing of a Memorandum of Intent for the Dutch MATRA Programme – project on strengthening the national penitentiary system in line …

A high-level Slovenian Interior Ministry delegation, led by Minister Katarina Kresal and Police Commissioner Janko Gorsek, will visit Macedonia on November 23-24. Slovenian delegation will hold meetings with President Gjorge Ivanov and Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska.