Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki addressed the 10. meeting of the Macedonia-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee on Thursday, saying that the imposed name dispute by Greece prevents Macedonia from starting the EU accession negotiations.

According to him, Macedonia has built a constructive atmosphere in the implementation of reforms and guidelines noted in European Parliament reports.

"Due to this principled approach, EP is the most respected European institution. It would be of exceptional significance if Macedonia is given a chance to start the negotiations process this year at the June 28-29 European Council meeting. The negotiations process enables overcoming of bilateral obstacles. Croatia's EU accession occurred through a process of negotiations, which enabled a positive climate that contributed to the overcoming of the bilateral dispute with Slovenia. This is a positive model and constructive methodology in the integration process", added FM Poposki.

He saluted the fact that representatives of the Macedonian and Greek Ministries of Foreign Affairs launched in Athens expert consultations for the first time, which is a signal that bilateral relations can be build in another way.

"The High-Level Accession Dialogue is significant, useful in focusing our reform efforts in segments that are significant for Macedonia's EU membership - rule of law, freedom of expression and media, public administration reforms, electoral reforms and market economy", said Poposki.

He emphasized that Macedonia is consistently achieving its goals and priorities, which should be acknowledged by European institutions, concluded Poposki.

At the meeting sidelines, FM Poposki met with Bulgarian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Ivaylo Kalfin and chairman of the EP's Foreign Affairs Committee Elmar Brok, focusing on Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic perspectives and Union developments. Later in the day, he is scheduled to meet MEP Kristian Vinegin.