The government welcomed on Wednesday the decision made by the General Affairs Council the previous day regarding Macedonia’s European path. “Yesterday, we witnessed how almost all EU FMs were pledging for all of us, the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia. The decision of the Council of EU Ministers is fully public and transparent and everybody can see it,” spokesperson ...

On Wednesday, VMRO-DPMNE leader criticised SDSM because of, as he said, Macedonia’s failure to get a clear recommendation for a start of accession negotiations with the EU right away. “The only thing Macedonia has received is hope that the criteria for setting a date will perhaps be met this time next year,” he noted. Mickoski stated that the government had ...

Following the General Affairs Council’s conclusions on Tuesday for a conditional start of negotiations with Macedonia and Albania, the preparations for those talks will start, according to the EC. As spokesperson Margaritis Schinas stated on Wednesday, the EC is now starting the work on preparations and, as the Council’s conclusions say, will continue to support tangible and sustainable results, especially ...

Within the frameworks of his visit to Vienna, PM Zoran Zaev delivered an address in the Austrian Institute for International Affairs, which, together with the European Fund for the Balkans and the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group, organised the debate “Towards a Common European Future for Southeastern Europe: The Case of Macedonia”. As he pointed out, in one year, ...

With the achieved progress, Macedonia has opened the path to starting accession negotiations in June 2019. At Tuesday’s meeting in Luxembourg, the EU Council conditioned the decision with the implementation of the necessary reforms. The meeting saw the Council decide that Macedonia set the road towards a start of negotiations in June 2019 due to the achieved progress. According to ...

On Tuesday, the EU’s Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, in a statement for Telma TV, congratulated Macedonia’s citizens on the EU Council’s decision. “Now, it’s clear that we will start negotiations in June next year and we can, as a Commission, immediately start preparing these negotiations from tomorrow onward,” he said. PM Zoran Zaev, too, ...

On Tuesday, PM Zoran Zaev held a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Vienna. At the joint press-conference following the meeting, Kurz said his country strongly supported Macedonia regarding a start of accession negotiations with the EU. According to him, Macedonia deserves that. The Austrian Chancellor added that his country would do everything it could in order for the ...

Government spokesperson Mile Bosnjakovski said on Tuesday that President Gjorge Ivanov’s decision and non-signing of the decree for ratification of the name agreement would not impact the deal’s implementation. “As far as Ivanov’s decision is concerned, it had been expected. However, it doesn’t affect the steps, i.e. the implementation of the stages of the agreement. The Greek government has already ...

NATO Sec Gen Jens Stoltenberg specified on Monday the conditions for Macedonia getting an invitation. “Of course, the decision will be taken by Heads of State and Government at our Summit in July, but I expect and I hope that the Heads of State and Government can agree to start accession talks. Then, of course, we’ll all be able to ...