President Gordana Siljanovska – Davkova received EU ambassador to Macedonia David Geer today.

President Siljanovska – Davkova pointed to the need of progress toward EU membership, which is a strategic goal of the country and of the majority of Macedonian citizens. Our future, President Siljanovska – Davkova said, undoutebly lies in the European Union and the place of our country is on the same table with the European countries with whom we share historic, cultural and moral traditions and values. The President underlined her readiness to contribute to the building of unity on issues of national and state interest and toward securing a political and societal consensus on the reform agenda, the office of President Siljanovska – Davkova informed.

The meeting comes after President Siljanovska’s swearing in ceremony, where she omitted the imposed adjective North and referred to the country simply as – Macedonia. This prompted angry reactions from Greece, as well as a statement and a number of tweets from EU officials. In his own tweet following the meeting, Ambassador Geer said that the two discussed “the process of EU integration, good-neighbourly relation, including the implementation of existing treaties and foreign policy and security matters”.

President Siljanovska pointed out the high level of readiness of the Macedonian administration and the experience that has been accumulated, but that “progress in reaching the criteria has been lacking because of political circumstances and moves for which responsibility also lies in certain EU member states”. She called for “restoring the trust in a meritorious process of integration, focused on achieving the Copenhagen criteria”.