Pendarovski-Maas Meeting – Germany Strongly Supports EU Negotiations

President Stevo Pendarovski met with German FM, Heiko Maas and exchanged opinions on the overall bilateral relations between the two countries, which were evaluated as friendly relations, filled with trust and mutual respect, as reported by the President’s cabinet. President Pendarovski stated that Macedonia deeply values the support from Germany toward its aspirations for membership into the European Union and NATO. In that context, President Pendarovski underlined the meaning of the completion of the ratification procedure for NATO membership for Macedonia by Germany. The President also thanked FM Maas for the strong support by Germany in the opening of the accession talks with EU, about the expressed solidarity with the country after the last European Council, as well as the fact that Germany keeps the enlargement issue on the EU agenda. During the visit, FM Maas stated that there is still no agreed upon methodology on conducting negotiations with EU candidate members, and that the Paris proposal is not yet seen by anyone in Germany. Nevertheless, Germany’s government considers that there must be a way to start the negotiations soon. At the end of the meeting, Pendarovski reaffirmed his standpoint that there is no other alternative for Macedonia than full-fledged EU membership.