Macedonia to be set tasks to ensure opening EU negotiations

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is later this week to be told by the European Commission to undertake a series of tasks in order to guarantee that it can open membership negotiations with the EU later this year.

In a draft paper on the western Balkans, due to be published by the commission on Wednesday (5 March), Macedonia is to be told that the "pace of reforms has, on the whole, been slow during the past two years, [but] there have recently been signs of reforms gaining mome...