SKOPJE (Macedonia), December 7 (SeeNews) – The European Commission may soon decide on the launch of accession talks with Macedonia if the country adopts the recommended legislative reforms by the end of 2017, the EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said.
"If the necessary legislative measures are adopted by the end of the year, we can look if we can offer an unconditional recommendation concerning the future start of negotiations and the opening of chapters," Hahn said in a video file posted on the website of the Commission on Wednesday.
Macedonia needs a broad consensus on the EU accession as a national goal, Hahn said during a news conference following a meeting with Macedonian prime minister Zoran Zaev and the president of the Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.
The Commission is expecting that the reform process started by the prime minister in the field of secret services and public administration will continue and would like to encourage Macedonia to continue on the path of European integration, Juncker said
Macedonia is committed to the reform of the judiciary, public administration, secret services and regulators and aims to recover the confidence of its citizens in the institutions, Zaev said.
Last month, Hahn has said he hopes a political decision on the start of membership talks with Macedonia will be taken in the first half of 2018.