EU Parliament Delegation Visits Macedonia

The visit comes following the European Parliament's resolution on Macedonia's progress in 2009, which was adopted at its plenary session last week. The resolution recommended the start of Macedonia’s EU entry talks without delay, but called for the swift resolution of the ongoing “name” row between Skopje and Athens.

MEPs and their colleagues in the Macedonian parliament will hold the 7th meeting of the EU - Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee.

European deputies will also meet Macedonian President Georgi Ivanov, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanovski, Deputy PM for European Affairs Vasko Naumovski and Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki.

In last week’s resolution, Macedonia was called to resume reforms in public administration, fight against corruption and maintain good inter-ethnic relations by assuring the full implementation of the Ohrid Peace Accord that ended the 2001 armed conflict in the country.

Macedonia’s EU entry bid is stalled due to the Greek blockade over the unresolved name issue. In December Athens blocked Skopje from acquiring a start date for its EU accession talks, arguing that the country's official name, Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims against Greece's northern province, which is also called Macedonia.

In 2008 Greece blocked Macedonia from entering NATO over the same dispute.