Brussels, 20/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn confirmed on Monday that talks with the Western Balkan countries (Albania, Serbia, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina) on readmission and visa facilitation agreements will start on 30 November. The Council gave the go-ahead to these negotiations on 13 November (see EUROPE 9305). This is a “first step” on the way to the “medium-term objective” which is the removal of the requirement for EU and Balkans citizens to have a visa, Mr Rehn told press, following a meeting with the foreign minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRM), Antonio Milososki. The speed of negotiations on facilitating and, later, removing the need for visas will depend, in the first instance, on the progress that the countries concerned make on external border control and security of identity and travel documents, stressed Mr Rehn. Mr Milososki felt that, with the introduction of new “very high quality” passports from March 2007, the FYRM would have “an additional argument” to persuade the EU to move to the removal of the need for visas. He also said that his government had elected to make combating corruption its priority. “I reassured Mr Rehn that our government really wants to deliver results which will allow the European Union to give us a date for opening accession negotiations”. The FYRM has held the official status as a candidate country since the European Council of December 2005. (hb)