Cypriot Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, who is paying a visit to Skopje in her capacity as current chair of the General Affairs Council of the EU, met on Monday with the Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, Teuta Arifi.

FM Kozakou-Marcoullis said the meeting took place "at a crucial time i.e. ahead of the EU summit in December," the Secretariat for European Affairs (SEA) said. In this context, Kozakou-Marcoullis said that as chair of the Council of EU she would make utmost efforts to retain the positive atmosphere in relation to the enlargement process, stated the press release.

After meeting with Arifi, the Cypriot minister briefly said that talks were "very good and they will be resumed."

Deputy PM Arifi told journalists that talks focused on the High-Level Accession Dialogue, the recent progress report on the country and the activities conducted to address issues stemming from the high-level dialogue...

"We've had constructive talks. Support was sought for the summit in December. Macedonia has good conclusions that would absolutely support the EU membership process," Arifi noted.

According to the SEA press release, the interlocutors agreed that the country's breakthrough in many key areas was noted in the European Commission report as a result of its dedication and the dynamics generated from the High-Level Accession Dialogue.

Earlier, FM Kozakou-Marcoullis held meetings with President Gjorge Ivanov and her counterpart Nikola Poposki. Their focal point was the launch of accession negotiations between Macedonia and the EU ahead of the December meetings of the Council of EU and the European Council.

Cyprus' minister Kozakou-Marcoullis wrapped up her Balkan tour with the visit to Macedonia.