FM Poposki meets EC Director General for Enlargement in Brussels
The European Commission has warned the EU member countries that the Union's credibility will be undermined unless accession negotiations are launched with Macedonia, EC's Director General for Enlargement Christian Danielsson told Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki at Thursday's joint meeting in Brussels.
Poposki and Danielsson discussed several issues that are of key importance for Macedonia's EU integration.
"First and foremost, it is crucial to maintain the dynamics of reform implementation involving the High Level Accession Dialogue (HLAD). I believe it is important that the EC is reiterating the fact that the postponement of membership talks with Macedonia will undermine EU's enlargement credibility. The principle of strict but fair treatment of candidate countries is being violated for a long period of time when it comes to Macedonia," Poposki told MIA.
The Macedonian minister and Danielsson also discussed ways to demonstrate to the EC the continuous progress made by Macedonia in the key chapters related to EU's agenda.
"We also discussed our perspective ahead of the upcoming summit of the European Council. It was concluded that the chances to influence Greece are pretty limited... No one can exert any significant influence other than the key issues related to eliminating their financial debt and tackling the overall economic situation," FM Poposki added.
However, he added, it is in Macedonia's interest to resume the name dialogue with Greece despite the lack of positive feedback on their part. "Macedonia will be proactive making as many efforts as possible to cooperate with our neighbour in the coming period."
Future efforts will be focused on the chapters in connection to the rule of law because "it is in the interest of Macedonia in improving the business climate," according to him.
With his meeting with Danielsson, FM Poposki concluded his two-day working visit to Brussels.