Nog geen toezeggingen voor toetreding aan Macedonië (en)

The European Commission says it is too early to set a start date for Macedonia's EU entry talks, despite Slovenia dropping hints that its EU presidency - in the first half of 2008 - could see Skopje get a firm timetable for negotiations.

Speaking to journalists after a meeting with Macedonian president Branko Crvenkovski on Tuesday (30 January), commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said "We cannot now commit ourselves to a date."

He added that Skopje must first make progress in several areas, particularly the police and judiciary, with the commission to evaluate the problematic issues in a detailed autumn report.

Mr Crvenkovski said that while his country does not "expect this [the starting date] to be presented to us as a gift" and intends to work hard to achieve it, adding it is crucial as an incentive for further reform efforts.

Earlier this month, the ex-Yugoslav country of 2 million received a positive statement from Slovenian prime minister Janez Jansa who said in the European Parliament that his government would "try to help this candidate country to get a date."

The promise by the first "new" EU member state to take up the bloc's presidency in January 2008 to consider Macedonia's membership bid as one of its priorities was later echoed by Slovenian foreign minister Dimitri Rupel on his visit to Skopje.

Intestinal conflict

Macedonia is currently facing a political crisis after a party of ethnic Albanians accused the governing coalition of breaching the so called Ohrid treaty - a peace deal agreed in 2001 after a conflict between Macedonian majority and Albanian minority in the country.

The dispute was sparked after the biggest Albanian party and its coalition partner were excluded from the government although they had won the majority of ethnic Albanian votes in last year's elections.

The main ethnic Albanian party has also accused the country's prime minister Nikola Gruevski and his coalition - which includes another Albanian party - of ignoring one of the Ohrid deal principles which requires that laws concerning minorities be approved by the MPs that represent them.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told the Macedonian president on Tuesday to start a deep dialogue among the country's political parties, adding that it is crucial also for achieving a political consensus on EU talks.