A U.S. senior official praised on Tuesday the progress Macedonian has made on reforms and urged the country's political parties to cooperate more closely to achieve its end of joining NATO, news from Skopje reported.
"A political consensus between the government and the opposition is needed, which is useful not only for joining NATO but also good for the future of Macedonia," said Rosemary DiCarlo, U.S. Deputy Assistance Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
Although U.S. supports Macedonia's aspiration to join NATO, the country has to put more efforts on political and judicial reforms, DiCarlo said after meetings with Macedonian President Branko Crenvkovski and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.
She also said the name dispute that Macedonia has with its neighbor Greece would not be an obstacle for Macedonia's membership in NATO, adding that the name issue is not a condition to join the club, Makfax, Macedonia's independent news agency, reported.
Greece is at odds with Macedonia over its name, which Athens says implies territorial claims to the northern Greek province of Macedonia, and has threatened to seek veto Macedonia's NATO and EU bids, unless the name dispute is resolved.
Macedonia, along with Albania and Croatia, signed the Adriatic Charter with the United States in 2003 in order to facilitate its entry into NATO. It hopes to get invitation to join the organization at its next spring summit in Bucharest, Romania, in 2008.
Source: Xinhua
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