Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski says there is clear interest in both Germany and the European Commission to get engaged to resolve the various issues that exist in the Balkans. Gruevski is in Berlin, where he attended the Thursday conference on economic development and integration for Balkan countries.

- I can say the conference went very well. We had a two hour meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel, attended by the six Prime Ministers from the South-East European countries. I spoke at both the political and the economic segments and regarding the political issues, for Macedonia, the main point was the discussion about the issue raised more then 20 years ago by our southern neighbour. It was practically the only thing pointed out for Macedonia in the discussion on politics and it was pointed out that it is important to solve the issue as soon as possible, given that it is no secret that it's the key reason why Macedonia still hasn't started the talks to join the European Union, Prime Minister Gruevski said.

Gruevski added that there is a clear understanding in both Berlin and Brussels that the reason Macedonia is stalled in its integrations is that Greece is not willing to talk about finding a solution. This is because of the other issues Greece is faced with, but regardless, the name issue remains unresolved, Gruevski added.

- The problem stands, and we are most affected by it. Therefore, at the conference, we expressed hope that more work will be done to resolve the issue in the coming period, and that the other side will also be more active to find a solution, Prime Minister Gruevski said.

During the economic discussions at the Berlin conference, the Macedonian Prime Minister said that he presented the development plans and the several major projects that are now under way.

- We are building three highways in three different directions, parts of the two main corridors. We are also working on the railroad link to Bulgaria. We also plan to build an express road to Bulgaria, and several other projects, such as in the energy field. I discussed about other future plans, like building a railroad link to Albania, which we are preparing a project for with the help of the European Union IPA funds. All other participants also presented their regional priorities, in improving the energy inter-connections, highway and railroad links and other ideas, Gruevski said from Berlin.

The conference was also about creating a good business climate, pointing out that the economies of the countries can't go forward based only on infrastructure projects.

- Our economies can go forward with a good business climate, and one of its main pillars is to have rule of law. Macedonia fares good in this regard. Several other participants pointed out that Macedonia is a good example as a country that is open to attracting foreign investments. Naturally, countries that want to have investments, need to offer a degree of certainty, maybe even favourability in the conditions needed for doing business. This includes respect for the rule of law, Prime Minister Gruevski said in his remarks following the Berlin conference.