Politicians in both countries must pave the way for a mutually acceptable compromise solution, the German minister said and encouraged both Skopje and Athens to strive effectively for a compromise solution on the name issue.
Erler commented the name issue in the context of the Macedonian accession to the European Union.
He reminded that Macedonia strives for starting accession negotiations with the EU in the end of 2009. According to him, the recent elections in Macedonia met most international standards, serving as an encouraging signal for the next positive progress report by the European Commission in October.
As regards the visa liberalization, Erler made it very clear that Germany supports lifting the visa requirements as soon as a country has fulfilled the necessary conditions.
According to him, the latest evaluation reports published by the European Commission were reassuring by showing clear progress on achieving the benchmarks for full visa liberalization, "first of all" by Macedonia.
"We expect the European Commission to make a proposal in July to achieve a visa free travel regime for the most advanced countries by the beginning of 2010," Erler said.
