Foreign press on the Macedonian issue

[euro]

Originally Posted by Truth Bearer

Czech Republic Supports Macedonia Accession To EU, NATO

Source:Macedonian Information Agency-MIA

The Czech Republic supports Macedonia's aspirations to join the European Union and NATO, being ready to share its experiences with the integration processes, Prime Ministers of both countries Jiri Paroubek and Vlado Buckovski said late Tuesday after their meeting in Prague, MIA's special correspondent reported.

"Czech support of our aspirations to become NATO member and get date for EU entry talks are rather significant for the citizens of Macedonia, especially now when the crisis within EU is evident and the enlargement process is under question mark. The Czech Republic is ready to share its experience and its successful story with Western Balkan region," Buckovski said.

The Czech Republic has been standing for the EU enlargement process, thus supporting Macedonia's accession to the EU, Paroubek said, pointing out that Prague is offering its experience with the Euro-integration process to Macedonia. It also refers to NATO enlargement, he added.

"The Czech Republic is ready to advise Macedonia on the road to EU," Paroubek said, giving credit to the country for multiethnicity and substantial contribution to the regional stability.

Both Premiers expressed satisfaction with the excellent political relations, saying that there is a large potential for boosting of the economic cooperation.

The trade exchange between both countries was at US$ 29,3 million in 2005, of which only six million belongs to Macedonia's export. Macedonian-Czech Business Forum, scheduled for tomorrow in Prague, will address possibilities for more intensive business relations.

The Premiers also discussed on liberalizing the visa regime, for which concrete measures have already been taken, namely - the Czech Republic has been issuing free of charge visas to Macedonian citizens since November of 2005, while Macedonia abolished visa demands for Czechs this February. Further facilitation in that respect is under consideration.

Tomorrow, Buckovski is scheduled to meet President Vaclav Klaus, Senate Chairman Premysl Sobotka and Speaker of the Parliament Lower House Lubomir Zaoralek.



http://www.mia.com.mk/ang/Vest.asp?v...ki%20Praga.htm

Copyright © 2005 Journal of Turkish Weekly http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=29471

This article is from Thursday , 06 April 2006
Buckovski is not in the government now.
Check the date of the article!

[Truth Bearer]

Gee thanks Euro this is a major fuck up why would the paper have an article dated 2 years ago still linked??

[Astoria]

Nikola Gruevski proposes name referendum again



27 August 2008 | 20:20 | FOCUS News Agency



Skopje/Athens. Nikola Gruevski has again proposed a referendum for the name Athens and Skopje will agree on, the Greek ANA-MPA agency informed.
PM Gruevski said he did not know anything about a possible intervention of the U.S. and State Secretary Condoleezza Rice in the name dispute between Athens and Skopje. The U.S. embassy in Skopje denied the information.
Gruevski noted President Branko Crvenkovski had been in power for 15 years and had not managed to resolve the dispute.

[euro]

Skopje. Macedonia had asked the international community to engage with the fulfillment of Macedonian refugees in Greece rights, Macedonian Makfax agency reports. The resolution, which had been passed by Macedonian parliament, was sent to US, Russia, China, Kanada and Australia parliaments on Friday. It was also sent to the Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), NATO, West European Union, European parliament and other international organizations. The resolution envisage the return of Macedonian refugees’ rights and giving rights to Macedonian minoroty in Greece.

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?i...d6ttt2j0rfcd55

[kzk842]

Did you got a membership card from the post-offices?
The discounting will be a lot,you are good costumers..

[Astoria]

Skopje’s Summer Follies: Enough Please Nikola!
Author: Haps Borgen
1 September 2008 - Issue : 797




Was anybody really paying attention? After all, the summer’s activities included a serious flare-up in the Caucasus, the Beijing Olympics, the true start of the US 2008 election campaign, and the arrest of Radovan Karadzic and his removal to The Hague for trial.

Nevertheless, the summer follies in the FYROM’s capital included a heavy dose of barely disguised Slavo-Macedonian irredentism, apparently aimed at shifting the centre of discussion from the FYROM name negotiations (which Skopje knows it can not win on its terms) to the broader issue of some kind of “Macedonian” (and here they mean Slavic) cultural or linguistic entity.

Rubbish. Fortunately, most of the Greek government and the Commission in Brussels dismissed outright PM Nikola Gruevski’s torrent of letters and representations about his alleged “Macedonian” ethnicity and Greece’s alleged mistreatment of ethnic “Macedonians” and their properties (since Greece considers Macedonians to be Greeks, this is quite novel.) Cooler heads prevailed, with many analysts concluding these tactics were aimed at Gruevski’s domestic constituency.

It is truly excellent news that most of Europe quickly dismissed these inflammatory tactics coming out of Skopje. The Greek side was clearly not looking to exacerbate the problems, and the summer vacation period in both countries kept tempers well below the danger zone. There were only a few reports of trouble with tourist movements from either country visiting the other.

Washington did little to help, at least publically. These FYROMacedonian identity/ethnicity/property problems bandied about by PM Gruevski unfortunately took on more significance than they otherwise would have received since the “Macedonian ethnicity” issue has been accepted by the US State Department’s famed Balkan wizards as meritorious. This is of course thanks to acting Under Secretary of State Daniel Fried’s strong tilt in favor of Skopje since the failed April 2008 Bucharest NATO Summit. After ultra-nationalist PM Gruevski was re-elected in June as a result of Skopje’s troubled general elections, he somehow believed he still had Washington’s support for his irredentist agenda, instead of focusing carefully on UNmediated name talks still being managed by Matthew Nimetz.

We can only hope there will be a serious new attempt by Skopje to deal with the substance of the name dispute. It seems Athens remains ready to talk, but this can not be guaranteed forever in the face of continuing irredentist provocations from Skopje. Reports have surfaced of a US-sponsored plan to be hammered out in the presence of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when all interested parties converge in New York for the UN General Assembly session later in September. Rumors of Skopje’s agreement to change its Constitutional Name (Republic of Macedonia,) after an adjustment period, were quickly dismissed by US sources. Meanwhile, FYROM officials were scurrying about the US, with FM Antonio Milososki attending the recent Democratic National Convention in Denver and PM Gruevski slated to attend the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis- St. Paul this week. Stay tuned, there is still time for another (desperate) act before Skopje loses its remaining best friends in Washington.

Haps Borgen

[Petros Houhoulis]

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/12844/

US Republicans 'Don't Mention *********'

The Republican National Convention is being held in Minnesota

03 September 2008 Skopje

The Greek diaspora in the United States claim their lobbying prevented open support for ********* from the Republican Party foreign policy platform, reports say.

"Hellenism owes a great deal to the excellent work of Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, to Republican advocate on the House Europe Subcommittee, Congressman Gus Birilakis and others," members of the Greek diaspora said Wednesday, according to the local ***fax news agency.

Previously, Greek daily Eleftheros Typos claimed that the Skopje-Athens “name” row was mentioned in the draft version of the Republican’s document.

Instead of explicit support for *********’s NATO accession that since April has stalled due to the Greek objections over the country’s name, the final document now offers only a general statement.

"We believe that door to NATO membership should remain open to all democratic nations who share our values and meet the requirements for NATO membership,” the Republican Party Platform reads, according to media reports.

If the republican candidate, Senator John McCain wins the forthcoming presidential elections in November this document will most probably be voted as the official text on US foreign policy.

Meanwhile ********** Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has been invited to attend the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota where he is to meet with several senior party officials.

The US recognised *********’s constitutional name in 2005 at the beginning of outgoing Republican President George W. Bush's second term in office.

Greece argues that *********’s name implies its territorial claims over its own northern province with the same name and has refused to allow the country to enter NATO and the European Union pending a resolution to the dispute.

Copyrights © 2007 Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.

[Foti66]

EU Commissioner says FYROM needs more reform
04 September 2008, 14:35 CET

(BRUSSELS) - The European Union's enlargement commissioner on Thursday called on FYROM to enact "substantial" new reform efforts before talks could start on joining the EU.

Commissioner Olli Rehn said not enough progress had been made on eight political benchmarks for starting membership negotiations, and he underlined shortfalls in violence-plagued June 1 elections.

"Substantial further efforts are still needed before we can tick all the boxes of these eight benchmarks," he told reporters, after talks in Brussels with Fyromian Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Bocevski.

The benchmarks cover areas like political dialogue, implementation of police laws, the fight against corruption, judiciary and public administration reform, and measures to boost employment and business.

"These are essential conditions in creating a truly European society," Rehn said.

FYROM became an official EU candidate in 2005 but membership negotiations never started. The commission, the EU's executive arm, has the job of recommending to the 27 member nations when the talks should begin.

The commission will publish a new progress report on FYROM in November, and Skopje had hoped that would lead to full negotiations.

Rehn also pointed to a "ninth benchmark": the conduct of elections.

In the four years that he has been commissioner, Rehn said, "unfortunately, in every election we have had certain shortcomings."

However no mention was made to perhaps the key stumbling block for FYROM's membership -- a more than 15-year dispute with Greece over its right to the name "Macedonia," which is shared by a northern Greek region.

A veto by Athens over the name dispute led to FYROM walking out of a NATO summit in Bucharest in April after it was refused membership of the alliance.

After the collapse of the old Yugoslav federation, FYROM was recognised by the United Nations in 1993 as the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM).

An opinion poll last month showed that more than 87 percent of Fyromians want their country to become an EU member, with less than five percent opposed.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd.

[Astoria]

Nimetz 'Prepares' Fresh FYROMacedonia Proposal


09 September 2008 Skopje _ Matthew Nimetz, the UN mediator in the FYROMacedonia-Greece 'name' talks, might forward a new solution to the row at this week's meeting in New York, local media report.

Local media in FYROMacedonia quote unnamed diplomats in their report.

The negotiators would then convey the proposal to their respective governments for further consideration, the source told local daily Dnevnik. According to the diplomat, the fresh proposal would be based on the previous suggestions and complaints by the both countries to Nimetz’s earlier ideas.

“The FYROMacedonian side made it clear that besides the name, its main priority is the identity issue, and now we expect this issue to be highlighted in Nimetz's proposal,” the source said.

Meanwhile FYROMacedonia’s President Branko Crvenkovski and Premier Nikola Gruevski are set to discuss country’s latest position regarding the talks later on Tuesday.

Skopje and Athens as well as Nimetz have remained secretive about the content of the previous and the forthcoming talks. However media in both countries speculated that some form of the name Upper or Northern Macedonia might be in pipeline.

Prior to the fresh round of talks that should take place on September 11, both governments expressed pessimism about a quick solution to the dispute arguing that the other side is being too inflexible.

In April, Athens blocked Skopje’s bid to join NATO saying that its name implies territorial claims over Greece’s own northern province which is also called Macedonia.

Greece now threatens to do the same in FYROMacedonia's bod to move closer to the European Union, pending a resolution to the 17 year-long row.

[Astoria]

FYROM PM: 'Name' Row Will Stall EU Bid


09 September 2008 Skopje _ The “name” row with Greece will be the only reason that will stop FYROMacedonia from getting a date for the start of EU accession talks this autumn, the country’s Premier admits.

“We already heard the Greek announcements on what will happen so this is becoming obvious,” Nikola Gruevski told local media on Monday, referring to Greek threats to block Macedonia’s European Union progress pending a solution to the “name” row.

Earlier he argued that Skopje has made the maximum possible compromise and that despite that, further concessions from FYROMacedonia were now being demanded.

“This will not do. It is enough,” he said in his speech during the country’s Independence Day celebrations on September 8.

Referring back to Macedonia's EU bid, Gruevski said Skopje already fulfilled more than seventy percent of its reform benchmarks previously set by the European Commission and that the rest will be finished on time by the November report.

In its November annual report the EC will evaluate if FYROMacedonia is ready to start accessions talks with the EU and decide whether to recommend a date on when they should start.

The EC set eight so-called benchmarks for the country this spring. Last week the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that Macedonia has made some progress but noted that more work is needed on building political stability and ensuring free and fair elections in the future. Read more: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main...2891/?tpid=149

Rehn urged Skopje on adopting “effective judicial and legislative measures” before the country could make progress in the EU.

But Gruevski argues that no matter the wording from the EU officials, it is becoming clear that the dispute with Athens is the real obstacle.

“The same will happen like in Bucharest where Macedonia fulfilled all of its duties but did not get a NATO invitation,” Gruevski said.

In April in Bucharest, Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO bid arguing that the country should change its name first. Greece says that Macedonia’s name implies Skopje's territorial claims over Greece's northern province of the same name.

Meanwhile both Gruevski and his Greek counterpart Costas Karamanlis expressed pessimism for a quick resolution to the 17 year-long row prior to the new round of talks that are set for this Thursday in New York.

The talks are being held under United Nations auspices and mediated by the United States diplomat Mathew Nimetz.

Macedonia has been a European Union candidate country since December 2005 but has not started accession talks due to a lack of progress in reforms.