US says Macedonia should join NATO as soon as possible

25/04/2008

WASHINGTON, United Sates -- Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried testified before a congressional panel Wednesday (April 23rd), saying Macedonia should join NATO as soon as possible. He added that the Bush Administration was disappointed Greece blocked Macedonia's bid at the NATO summit earlier this month, as it met the technical membership criteria.

In other news, Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski says he thinks the long-standing name dispute with Greece will also affect EU accession. This, despite the European Parliament adoption of a report that concludes the name dispute should not delay or block Macedonia's EU integration. (MIA, Makfax, MRT, ANA-MPA - 24/04/08)