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EU to set conditions for entry talks with Macedonia
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 23 - 01 - 2008


The European Union's executive
is likely to propose conditions in March for starting entry
talks with the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, the bloc's
enlargement chief said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
"If positive progress continues, then my intention is to
propose ... a set of benchmarks to fulfil for the launch of
accession negotiations," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn
said after talks with Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.
He said the conditions would mainly concern reforms of the
country's administrative and judicial systems and were likely to
be presented in March along with policy proposals for other
Balkan states queuing to join the 27-member bloc.
"I am certain these key priorities are doable," he said.
The EU officially made Macedonia a candidate for membership
in 2005, four years after an accord between the majority
Macedonian and minority Albanian communities, brokered by the EU
and NATO, pulled the country from the brink of civil war.
But Brussels insists on progress on the rule of law, the
rights of the Albanian minority and fighting organised crime and
corruption before entry talks can start.
"Starting of the negotiations with the republic of Macedonia
and liberalisation of the visa regime will have a serious,
positive impact not only on Macedonia but on the whole region,"
Gruevski said at a joint news conference with Rehn.
Rehn also said the EU could soon sign an association
agreement with Serbia, a step towards eventual membership, after
the country fulfils the obligation of cooperating fully with a
United Nations tribunal on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.
"The EU is fully committed to a European perspective for
Serbia, including the ultimate goal of membership," Rehn said.


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