Macedonian president appeals for new EU approach towards Macedonia

A new European Union (EU) approach to Macedonia is needed because the current one has proved to be unproductive, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov told EU Ambassador Samuel Zbogar here on Thursday.

According to the Macedonian president, the approach implemented so far has generated retrograde political developments instead of advancing the political culture and reform processes here, the president's press office said.

During their meeting, Ivanov and Zbogar talked about Macedonia's EU integration process, the refugee crisis, but also the political developments in the country, the president's office added.

While speaking about the migrant and refugee crisis, Ivanov highlighted that Macedonia had proved stable, and took a proactive and preventive approach to dealing with the migrant crisis.

However, he stressed that in the event of a new refugee wave, Macedonia would need to have access to an EU base to compare data of migrants and terrorist foreign fighters, exchange information, and carry out more efficient cooperation of intelligence and other security services, the president's cabinet further said in its press release. Endit