And while, as they have informed from the President’s Cabinet, Gjorge Ivanov is in Ankara on the occasion of the inauguration ceremony of Recep Erdogan as President of Republic of Turkey, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev is at the EU-Western Balkans Summit that is being held within the framework of the Berlin process, in London.
The Summit will last two days, whereas Prime Minister Zaev will participate in several working groups, will speak at the panel on the topic “Foreign Policy, Bilateral Disputes and Legacy Issues”, that will be chaired by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, and on the sidelines a meeting is anticipated with the High Representative of the EU for Security and Foreign Policy, Federica Mogherini.
From London Zaev will be leaving for Brussels, where he will be participating in the NATO Summit of Heads of State and Governments
The NATO Summit is significant because of Macedonia’s expectations to receive an invitation for membership in the Alliance.
In the meanwhile, due to one of the conditions for joining the EU, the resolution of the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece, the center of Skopje is being blocked every day because of protests “in defense of the name”. The revolt against the Agreement, in front of the Parliament, is expressed by a dozen citizens with banners and patriotic songs and messages.
Yesterday, in regards to the same issue there were protests in Thessaloniki and the cities of Chania and Heraklion on the Greek island of Crete in Greece. Protests in defense of the name, with a message that “Macedonia is Greek”, are expected today as well.
In the context of the Agreement with Greece and the expectation of the referendum, it is good to have in consideration that the institution tasked with its implementation at the national level has still not been formed.
Namely, this week a parliamentary procedure is to start on the election of a new composition of the State Election Commission, but, it is still not known when the Committee on Elections and Appointments will schedule the session. The announcement for the new composition of the SEC ended two weeks ago, with 41 candidates applying. The deadline for the Parliament to elect the new composition of the SEC is July 17.
Hearings for the SPO cases “Torture”, “Tariff” and “Violence in the Municipality of Center” were scheduled in the Criminal Court for today.
B.J.
