Greek Foreign Minister Kodzias: The issue regarding Macedonia’s name to be solved

The issue regarding the name of Macedonia can be resolved, just like any other problem, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kodzias said during his visit to Skopje. Minister Kodzias added that Athens wanted to see Skopje move faster on its way to the EU. The lack of confidence is the weakest link in our bilateral relations over the recent decades. The motivation of our citizens and business to work with each other is the strongest link in our relations, Minister Kodzias further pointed out. Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki said in return that Skopje and Athens agreed to boost mutual confidence, although no progress on the issue regarding the name of Macedonia was registered.

Macedonia with new plan for reforms

The cabinet of Macedonia has adopted a new plan for reforms focused on justice, freedom, the election legislation, the fight against corruption and organized crime. Thus, this country would reach the European standards in these fields and start accession talks with the European Union, Macedonian Premier Nikola Gruevski announced. The plan is based on our talks with the EU and the recommendations of the European institutions and experts. Macedonia deserves to be a member of the EU, Premier Gruevski said in a moment, when his country is in heavy political crisis that has been lasting for over six months.

Left-wing alliance wins elections in Albania

The ruling leftist coalition headed by Albanian Premier Edi Rama won the local elections in this country. These elections boosted the reforms initiated by the ruling coalition, Edi Rama said. In his view, the local elections in Albania were the most democratic and transparent ever. The opposition parties complained about a series of violations, but the international observers assessed the elections positively.

Number of Greeks who want to exit Eurozone on the rise

30% of the Greek nationals want to see their country out of the Eurozone, the latest sociological survey shows. Those who wanted their country to exit the monetary union in the past several years were only 20% of the whole population. According to sociologists, the increase was due to the austerity measures and the long-lasting negotiations between Greece and its international creditors. Moreover, some Greek politicians contend that the country’s economy would strengthen, if Greece exits the Eurozone and adopts a local currency. The Greek Drachma was replaced by the Euro back in 2002.

Mogherini: Dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina saw progress

The high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini confirmed that the meeting between Pristina and Belgrade which was set to discuss normalization of bilateral relations saw progress. Mrs Mogherini said in a statement that during the talks both countries accentuated on topics such as power engineering and telecommunications. The representatives of Kosovo and Serbia also discussed the possible establishment of the Association of Kosovo-Serbian Municipalities and the free passing along the bridge in the town of Mitrovica. Serbian Premier Aleksandar Vučić also said that a substantial progress was registered between the countries, although the talks were difficult.

Hungary to build fence along border with Serbia

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Péter Szijjártó said in a statement that the cabinet in Budapest had decided to build a temporary fence along the border with Serbia, in order to prevent the massive flow of migrants on Hungarian territory. In Mr Szijjártó’s words, Hungary has to amend several legislative acts before the actual start of the construction. However, he did not specify when the border fence will be constructed. In his view, some 61,000 illegal immigrants entered Hungary since the beginning of 2015 and all of them came from Serbia. Most migrants who applied for an asylum in that country left to Western European countries later.

Written by: Miglena Ivanova

English version: Kostadin Atanasov