Macedonia's place is in the EU, and negotiations must begin as soon as possible

 

 The United States strongly supports the integration of Macedonia into the European Union, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Gabriel Escobar said after meetings in Skopje with President Stevo Pendarovski and Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani. 

"I would like to express once again the strong support of our administration for the European integration of Macedonia, we are working with our European partners to make this happen as soon as possible. I think we all believe that Macedonia is part of Europe, both culturally and historically, but also as a developing economy. You need to have your place at the table. "In this context, we will continue to support your efforts in the integration process, in the continuation of reforms to make integration a reality," Escobar said.

The US diplomat also stressed the importance and assistance that Macedonia can provide to tackle the challenges that may arise not only in the Balkans but throughout Europe.

  "We also talked about Macedonia's leadership in the OSCE and NATO to help us solve the problems facing the Alliance, both in the Balkans and across Europe, and we are looking for ways to deepen this cooperation, which is already impressive," he added. Escobar.

Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said the United States is a strategic partner of Macedonia, a close ally of NATO and a strong supporter of it since Macedonia's independence.

  Speaking about the country's expectations for the start of EU membership talks in December, Osmani said the EU summit would take place on December 14th, but said it did not mean December was Skopje's last chance to start talks in December. 

"Even after 14 December, every day until the end of the year, Slovenia, as EU president, can convene an extraordinary meeting of European ministers if it receives information from Bulgaria that it is ready to accept the negotiating framework with Macedonia. "So the whole month of December is an opportunity to start membership talks." But it could happen later, "Osmani said.