Tusk: Athens and Skopje set example for Western Balkans

NEWS 28.06.201821:05
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The President of the European Council Donald Tusk said on Thursday that the way Greece and Macedonia solved the name problem after 27 years of disagreements was an example for the neighbouring countries in the Western Balkans how to deal with their disputes.

Ahead of his meeting with Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev in Brussels, Tusk said that last week was good for the Western Balkans since Albania and Macedonia got June 2019 as the date for the opening of the accession talks with the European Union.

He praised Zaev for his commitment as well as the Macedonian government for what he described as essential steps in strengthening democracy.

“Your agreement with Bulgaria on friendship and good neighbourly relations and with Greece on the name have set an example to the others in the region how to improve relations among themselves,” Tusk said.

He added he called on all EU member states to support the name deal agreed by Zaev and his Greece counterpart Alexis Tsipras earlier this month.

Attending the European leaders gathering in Brussels for a two-day summit where they arrived deeply divided over migrations, Tusk said that the EU, in cooperation with other countries, managed to lower the influx of migrants for 96 percent in comparison to 2015 and thanked Macedonia for “great assistance” in that area as well.