Germany is a strong supporter of Macedonia at political and economic level and is once again offering its assistance in all spheres. Both countries foster cordial overall relations, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and PM Nikola Gruevski concluded Tuesday at their hour-long meeting in Berlin.

Merkel speaking at a joint press conference said that Germany was advocating for Macedonia's integration to NATO, underlying that progress needed to be made in the name talks with Greece.

Commenting Greece's violation of the Interim Accord, Merkel stated that negotiations aimed at finding solution to the name issue should resume. She urged that justice and international law should be seen as priorities, leaving behind obstruction.

"The rules are clear - undoubtedly the International Court of Justice has reached a verdict that is a success for the Macedonian government. I personally believe that NATO accession is crucial and that name talks with Greece must continue in a bid a resolution to be found," Merkel stressed.

The German Chancellor - who called the country by Macedonia's constitutional name throughout the news conference - said she expected Western Balkan countries to meet required conditions, following the example of Croatia and Slovenia, before joining Euro-Atlantic institutions.

Premier Gruevski said Macedonia's objective was to further develop and advance bilateral relations, thus paving the way toward bolstering countries' cooperation.

Referring to Macedonia's NATO and EU membership, Gruevski informed Merkel on ongoing reforms in Macedonia focused on meeting necessary standards.

"The Republic of Macedonia for three years in a row has gotten a positive report from the European Commission and recommendation for start of EU accession talks and has met all of the conditions and criteria for NATO membership, which was acknowledged by the Alliance at the Bucharest summit in 2008," Gruevski said and thanked Merkel for Germany's endorsement of the NATO open door policy.

Macedonia is a de facto member of NATO, according to him.

"Macedonia as a nation has been contributing wherever NATO has required us to do so. Our troops are taking part in NATO-led mission and our lawmakers have never voted against that. Macedonia is a fifth contributing nation according to the number of troops deployed in Afghanistan and half of country's budget is spent on our efforts in Afghanistan. Still, we are hampered to become a member as a result of a dispute with neighboring Greece over our name, identity and language," Gruevski said.

The PM added that Macedonia had "reasonable expectations" from the forthcoming NATO summit in Chicago taking into consideration country's contribution to ISAF and the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"ICJ has ruled that Greece had unjustified motives to block Macedonia's membership to NATO and has said that we do not have to be hindered by such a condition by Greece. Therefore, we believe that country's expectations from the summit in Chicago are reasonable when it comes to respecting international law, acknowledging our efforts. We are making attempts to secure support from countries that strongly believe in fairness and international laws. Germany is undoubtedly one of those countries. Despite the ruling of UN's highest legal body, we remain committed to negotiations with Greece in finding a mutually acceptable solution to the issue," PM Gruevski noted.

Speaking about the economic crisis in Europe, he praised the leading role of Germany and Chancellor Merkel in addressing the challenges as well as their commitment to ensuring conditions for countries to develop.

"Macedonia joins the countries struggling to tackle economic difficulties in order to improve the living standards of the citizens across Europe," the Macedonian Premier stated.

Asked how Greece's economic crisis was reflected in Macedonia, he said that Macedonia despite its negative effects had managed to conclude the first three quarters of 2011 with a growth of 4.3%.

PM Gruevski met with Chancellor Merkel in Berlin for the second time. Their first meeting took place right after Gruevski was elected head of the Macedonian government.