EU's Hahn to Try to Broker Definitive Political Deal in Macedonia

The EU Commissioner  Johannes Hahn will be visiting Macedonia on Tuesday to try to help the country's leaders resolve a months-long political crisis.

Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, will be meeting with Prime Minister and leader of governing VMRO-DPMNE party Nikola Gruevski, main opposition Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev as well as the leaders of ethnic Albanian parties Ali Ahmeti and Menduh Thaci, the Commission said in a statement.

Members of the European Parliament Ivo Vajgl, Richard Howit, and Eduard Kukan will attend as facilitators.

The intention of the team is to reach a definitive deal between the Macedonian political parties to implement the agreement brokered by Hahn on 2 June, Macedonian news agency MIA said on Monday.

European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said last week that the discussions between Macedonia's political leaders are at a critical juncture.

"The European Union expects all of them [the leaders] to behave responsibly and constructively," she said.

Meanwhile, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland on Monday urged Macedonian political leaders to move fast to implement the agreement brokered by Hahn.

Nuland said that this would open the way for overcoming the political crisis and moving ahead with talks with Athens to settle the issue of the Macedonia's name and finally have the country admitted into NATO, according to MIA.

"Now it's time to bring this crisis to an end," the news agency quoted Nuland as saying in Skopje after meeting with the four political leaders.