Brussels, 25/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission hopes to deepen its cooperation with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) this autumn, namely through high level dialogue on accession to the EU and a conference on economic policy, European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle announced after a “productive meeting” with FYROM Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki on Tuesday 25 October, in Strasbourg.
Stefan Füle underlined that “further efforts are needed to address core challenges”. He explained that he now looked forward to working with the new government, “which can bring new momentum”.
The commissioner explained that he looked forward to the government of FYROM responding concretely to the findings of the progress report by “adopting an action plan and revising the National Plan for the Adoption of the Acquis”. He spoke of the main challenges facing Skopje: the effective setting in place of acquis-related legislation, freedom of expression for the media, reform of the judiciary and public administration, and measures to counter corruption. As regards the economy, Füle said: “Structural reforms need to continue to address high unemployment whilst maintaining macro-economic stability.” He added that dialogue between political forces must be strengthened. The commissioner also said that “maintaining good neighbourly relations, including a negotiated and mutually acceptable solution to the name issue under the auspices of the UN, remains essential”. He underlined the “need for redoubling efforts to find a solution without further delay”. (CG/transl.jl)