PM Zaev remains Optimistic Macedonia will get Date to Start membership Talks

PM Zoran Zaev remains optimistic that Macedonia will get a date to start accession talks. “17 and 18 October will be the final dates. I am an optimist. We have all the arguments in the world to get a date,” he said on Monday. According to the PM, France isn’t against a date for Macedonia, but rather legitimately intends to introduce a new methodology. “I don’t want to think that there won’t be a date. The EU mustn’t allow itself to punish the best example. I wouldn’t like to talk about that. We’re making steps in the right direction,” the PM stressed. He considers that the failure to adopt the Public Prosecutor’s Office law will not have an impact on the decision on a date. Also on Monday, at a session of the National European Integration Council, Deputy PM for European Affairs Bujar Osmani said Macedonia expected to be given a date. President Stevo Pendarovski, too, said the same thing in a statement for Greek newspaper Ethnos.