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.
