Sat, Nov 21 2009

Czech presidency backs EU enlargement to Western Balkans

Tue, Mar 10 2009 22:51 CET byClive Leviev-Sawyer 1154 Views 1 Comment
Czech presidency backs EU enlargement to Western Balkans

Macedonia's prime minister Nikola Gruevski, left, welcomes his Czech counterpart Mirek Topolanek to Skopje.

Czech presidency backs EU enlargement to Western Balkans

Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek addresses a news conference in Skopje.

Czech presidency backs EU enlargement to Western Balkans

Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski and his Czech countpart Mirek Topolanek, who currently is European Council President, inspect a guard of honour in Skopje.

Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, expressed his support for EU enlargement by the Western Balkans countries during a March 10 2009 visit to Macedonia.

"You have a graduation ahead of you in the form of elections," Topolanek said in a reference to the presidential and local elections to be held in Macedonia on March 22.

"I hope they will be free, democratic and that you will satisfy the eight conditions set by the European Commission. I hope that you will be able to shape the future of your country in a democratic way, preferably in the Euro-Atlantic Structures," Topolanek told a news conference in Skopje.

Referring to the elections in Macedonia and Montenegro, he said that international standards must be obeyed. Macedonia's parliamentary elections in June 2008 were torn by violence in some ethnic Albanian areas, and various Western European voices have said that they expect this year's elections to be conducted properly.

The Czech Presidency said that it supports the ongoing integration process in both countries; "however, the continuation and the speed of the accession process are now in the hands of each country," a media statement said.

Topolanek and Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski discussed support for Nato membership, liberalisation of the visa regime, impacts of the global financial and economic crisis, and energy security.

Macedonia's Nato membership aspirations have been blocked by Greece because of a prolonged dispute between Athens and Skopje over the use of the name Macedonia. The Czech Presidency media statement on Topolanek's visit referred throughout to "the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia".

The Czech Presidency media statement said that Topolanek also praised Macedonian military personnel deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq – "their mission shows that preparations for NATO membership are running full steam ahead".

Topolanek’s March 11 2009 agenda in Podgorica includes a meeting with president Filip Vujanovic and bilateral talks with prime minister Milo Djukanovic and president of the Montenegro parliament Ranko Krivokapic.

Comments

Anonymous betsi krivo Mon, Jul 27 2009 06:04 CET
Inappropriate comment?

trying to get in touch with ranko krivokapic....we're related and would love to fly in and say hello. we're in Ny city....my husband and investment banker....just be fun to meet you and we want to see Monte Negro...it is beautiful from afar...but would love to walk the soil. sincerely,
at your convenience,
betsi krivo

Write comment

Name:Comment:

Generate new code
Send your comment
Not at all as bad as it seemed: an appraisal of the Czech EU Presidency of 2009

The Czech presidency was placed within a very complicated context, both internationally with the economic crisis on a surge and unsettled issues inside the EU, including the future of the Lisbon Treaty, as well as internally with a fragile support of the government eventually breaking up and paving the way for the caretaker government to take over. Despite this, the presidency managed to deliver on many of its priorities, albeit not in a way and to the extent that it was hoping for.

Most Montenegrins do not want the country to join Nato – poll

With more than 43 per cent against and close to 27 per cent undecided, findings of survey suggest that most people in Montenegro are at odds with one of the key aims of prime minister Milo Djukanovic’s government that they recently re-elected to power.

Gymnich meeting offers no great boost for Western Balkans

Hopes of EU expansion depend on progress on Lisbon Treaty, among other significant obstacles

Macedonia 'has good relations with all Balkan countries' - speaker of parliament

Visiting Bulgaria, head of Macedonian parliament expresses hope for resolution of 'absurd' name dispute with Greece

Election observers in place in Montenegro

Campaign ahead of March 29 parliamentary elections to be dominated by troubled economy, EU hopes

Macedonia on the eve of campaigns for March 22 elections

Party leaders meet to try to ensure voting goes peacefully, a key condition for Macedonia's European hopes; 'name dispute' with Greece to be big issue

Greek foreign minister speaks on thorny Balkans issues

In Washington, Dora Bakoyannis says that the only way forward is full membership in the EU and Nato for the whole of South Eastern Europe

Montenegro parliament dissolves to open way for early elections on March 29

Members of Montenegro's parliament voted on January 26 2009 to dissolve the legislature to allow for early elections, to be held on March 29. President Filip Vujanovic announced the election date the day after parliament's vote.

More in this category

White tigress slaughtered by lions

The white tigress is a rare animal resulting from a special recessive gene

Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine to form military brigade

The agreement was signed in Brussels earlier this week but it's still a long way off before the Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian brigade can be formalized as an international agreement.

Flu slows down Kyiv

Affected by quarantine and panic, life in Kyiv has been subdued in the past few weeks.

Poll: Number of Russians worrying about A(H1N1) growing

The number of Russians worrying about contracting the A(H1N1) flu virus grew to 70 per cent in November from 57 per cent in September.

Riots break out in central Athens on 36th anniversary of the Polytechnic massacre

The Polytechnic University or Politechniu in Greek, was the scene of a massacre in 1973, when Greek army tanks broke into the University and shot students indiscriminately, killing dozens of youths.

© 2000-2009, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.