Brussels, 04/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, Commissioner Frattini formally asked the Council during a ministerial conference organised in Vienna on the role of internal security for a negotiating brief on making visa issuance formalities easier in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. This request for a mandate aims to grant an agreement on short term visa facilitation and a readmission agreement. As Commissioner Frattini had pointed out on 27 April during the Justice and Home Affairs Council (EUROPE 9182), Macedonia is the first country of the Western Balkans with which the Commission hopes to begin negotiating such agreements. Other requests for mandates from the Commission are expected to follow, mainly for Serbia-Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania.