Visa liberalisation for Macedonia is becoming more certain, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski and European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn jointly concluded at a meeting Wednesday in Brussels.

- It is obvious that in coming months till the preparation of this year's report on Macedonia, we should make more efforts in certain areas. However, I am confident that Macedonia has both the institutional capacity and potential to complete these tasks on time. Republic of Macedonia has already wrapped up a major part related to visa liberalisation. Hopefully, by the end of 2009 EU will reach a decision to lift the visa regime for the citizens of Macedonia, stated Crvenkovski after meeting with Rehn.

The Enlargement Commissioner noted that Macedonia had met the conditions required by EU, whereas the launch of pre-accession talks would depend on the fulfilment of the eight benchmarks set by EU last year.

- The country has a clear perspective to move forward and the visa liberalisation is more certain. The establishment of a political climate for Macedonia's successful integration to EU is crucial, said Rehn.

Focusing on the name row with Greece, he expressed hope that talks towards finding a solution would commence in due time.

- My most sincere wish and request is the name talks to be kicked off soon in order a solution to the dispute to be found. It is a problem that exists for a long time and I hope it won't last forever. Its settlement will solve other issues and problems, Rehn stated.

He added that neighbourly ties were not a formal criterion for Euro-integration and were not included in the EU benchmarks, stressing the name issue in real life was a dominant issue between the countries and as a result required prompt resolution.

Earlier in the day, President Crvenkovski met with EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.