By Anthony Fletcher - 2nd October 2007
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia president Branko CrvenKovski was in Brussels on Wednesday, seeking to smooth a path towards EU accession talks.
He described his conversation with enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn as “constructive”, and implied that his country was on its way to meeting necessary criteria.
“I believe he (Rehn) was assured of my country’s democratic capacity,” he said. “I believe we are on the same path, and are going to get a date for accession talks to begin in 2008.”
The Balkan nation officially known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) has the support of Slovenian prime minister Janez Jansa, who recently called on commission president José Manuel Barroso to start accession talks with FYRM.
Slovenia, which takes over the rotating EU presidency next year, could be in a strong position to help its Balkan neighbour and Serbia - meet accession criteria.
However, while Rehn welcomed the progress that has been made by Macedonia he effectively chastised the country over political in-fighting and for what he called “the unfortunate events in parliament recently”.
The parliament in Skopje was seriously disrupted last month when fighting among some members of opposing political groups began during a session break.
Furthermore, Rehn emphasised the need to turn words into deeds, and suggested that the country had lost some momentum.
“Macedonia has lost some valuable time,” he said. “We need to see concrete results. We need progress in the fight against corruption.
“This is the criteria that will determine the opening of accession negotiations.”
In an implicit appeal to the EU, CrvenKovski said that Skopje would “follow the politics of Brussels”.
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