Macedonia not ready for EU membership talks

Macedonia is not ready for specific EU membership negotiations yet, the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn stated.

Commenting on the EU enlargement Rehn evaluated that the accession of new members is important on account of numerous strategic reasons but that the EU must first solve its social, political and institutional problems.

The Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel has also estimated that they have to be careful, “not to demand too much of Europe”. “I clearly state: Bulgaria and Romania – this is an already solved issue. The Balkans have a clear European perspective too. Turkey, on the other hand, is a different matter: we will still start the negotiations but we do not yet know what the outcome will be”, Schuessel stated. According to him besides Croatia it should not be forgotten “that Bosnia, together with Macedonia, are an example of a very successful politics on the Balkans. Today peace rules there, no matter how fragile it is. But it still rules and to a high extent so does stability. This is a success for European politics”, Focus News quoted Schuessel as saying.

V.Y.