Macedonians to submit delayed EU application
Branko Crvenkovski will today submit his country’s application to join the European Union.
The prime minister of (the Former Yugoslav republic of) Macedonia will fly to Dublin today to hand a formal application over to the Irish government - which currently heads the Union.
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Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva will also travel to Dublin
The event will take place after a previous attempt on 26 February when President Boris Trajkovski died tragically in a plane crash, just hours before handing in Macedonia’s application.
His plane hit a mountain during poor weather killing him and several other passengers.
In 2001 Macedonia signed a Stabilisation and Association agreement with the EU, the first step on the path to membership for countries of the Western Balkans.
Croatia is the only other country from the western Balkans to have submitted an application for membership so far.
It is expected that the Council – currently headed by the Irish – will ask the Commission to assess the application and come up with a response in around 12 months.