Macedonia

Macedonia’s Defense Minister Fatmir Besimi will be heading to Croatia on Friday for an official visit. Besimi will meet with his Croatian counterpart Davor Bozinovic and Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Drago Lovric to discuss modalities to further promote the bilateral cooperation and the cooperation within the Adriatic Group. …

Macedonia and Greece are seeking a name in English for diplomatic communication, said the UN special representative for the naming dispute between the two countries, Matthew Nimetz. Nimetz noted this was a perfect moment for making more efforts to resolve the issue. “The whole world would like to see the …

Former Macedonian Foreign Minister and currently member of the parliament Antonio Milososki accused Greece of not wanting to find solution to the name dispute with Macedonia. “Athens refuses to invite UN mediator Matthew Nimetz, which is a condition for bringing more dynamics to the dialog,” Milososki said at a sitting …

Macedonian Defense Minister Fatmir Besimi is to depart on a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday. He will meet with his Bosnian counterpart Selmo Cikotic to discuss bilateral and regional cooperation and security. He will also visit the Macedonian contingent within the ALTHEA mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Macedonia celebrates Thursday the 20th anniversary of the declaration of its independence from the former Yugoslavia. The central celebration will be held on Thursday evening in downtown Skopje.

European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said he is optimistic that the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece will be solved by the end of the year. Fule was on a visit to Macedonia. The European Commission encouraged the two countries to take actions and solve the problem as soon as …

“Macedonia can count on Germany when it comes to the European perspective. It is of mutual interest,” said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle after meeting with Macedonian counterpart Nikola Poposki in Berlin on Monday. “Germany is aware that all countries in the West Balkans have European perspective,” Westerwelle remarked.

The EU still does not have an ambassador to Macedonia. The procedure for the election of the new diplomat has been launched and some 17 candidates gave applied so far. The new EU ambassador is expected to be appointed by mid-September.

Stefan Fuele is due in Macedonia on Monday, conducting a closer inspection of recent reforms enacted with a view to meeting EU demands. Fuele’s visit comes one month before the expected publication of a European Commission report on the country.

The two Balkan countries on Thursday in Sofia signed a Euro-Atlantic cooperation memorandum in which they agreed to put past feuds behind them.