EU Puts off Setting Date for Macedonia Accession Talks

Macedonian woman walks past a hand drawn old map of ethnic Macedonia, with a teritory which today belongs to the Macedonia, Greece and Bulgaria on the wall of the main train station of the capitol Skopje, on 08 December 2009. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The EU has decided to postpone announcing a date for the start of the accession talks of Macedonia (Macedonia) through a compromise designed to avoid a Greek veto over the so called “name dispute.

The Foreign Ministers of the 27 states have agreed that to leave the decision for a start date of Macedonia’s accession talks to be considered during the Spanish EU Presidency in the first half of 2010, the Bulgarian National Radio reported.

The compromise decision has been put forth by the Swedish EU Presidency. In the meantime, Macedonia is expected to carry on with its judicial system reforms and fight against corruption. The EU is also expecting that its problems with its neighbors will be resolved – most notably the “name dispute” with Greece.

The postponement of a date has helped avoiding a Greek veto on Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations. Greece already vetoed Macedonia’s accession to NATO over the name dispute.

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