Top State Department Official Heads to Macedonia

Gordon is scheduled to meet with Macedonian President Georgi Ivanov. He was also expected to meet with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who just finished an official visit to Morroco. Due to weather conditions, however, Gruevski will fly to Zagreb directly for meetings there, his office told media.

The assistant secretary of state is set to meet Branko Crvenkovski, the leader of Macedonia's biggest opposition party, the Social Democrats, SDSM, as well as Ali Ahmeti, the head of the biggest ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, which is part of the ruling coalition.

The US embassy in Skopje announced that the meetings will focus on recent events in the domestic and international political scene, US-Macedonia relations, stability in the region and Macedonia's EU integration.

The recent police busts of considerable weapons stashes in the vicinity of the Macedonian border with Kosovo has raised domestic concern about the possible re-emergence of armed groups similar to those active during the 2001 Macedonia armed conflict.

This development is expected to be one of the key points in today’s discussions.

Also, the interlocutors are likely to touch on current efforts to solve the long lasting name spat between Skopje and Athens. The row over the use of the name Macedonia is hampering Skopje’s efforts to enter NATO and the EU.

In 2008 Athens blocked Skopje from receiving an invitation to join NATO pending a resolution of the spat. In December Greece prevented Macedonia from getting its desired start date for EU accession talks over the same dispute.

Athens insists that Skopje’s official name, Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims against its own northern province, which is also called Macedonia.

Efforts are being made in the UN to find a compromise solution.

During his meetings with Macedonian officials, Gordon will be accompanied by US Ambassador to Macedonia Philip Reeker. This is Gordon’s first visit to Macedonia since he succeeded Daniel Fried in his post in May 2009.

The top state department official met with Kosovo leaders yesterday in Pristina.