The dialogue on the liberalization of the visa regime of the EU towards the Republic of Macedonia was officially opened in Skopje on February 20, 2008, during the visit of the then Vice-President of the European Commission and EU Commissioner responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security, Mr. Franco Frattini.

EU’s visa liberalization towards the Republic of Macedonia is among the highest foreign policy priorities of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As a part of that dialogue, in May 2008, the European Commission presented the Roadmap for the Republic of Macedonia, which contains certain criteria that need to be fulfilled in order to obtain the visa liberalization. The requirements concern the security of documents, border management, asylum and migration, public order and security, as well as foreign relations and human rights.

According to the hitherto achievements and the scheduled activities in the relevant areas, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia considers that, during 2009, the Republic of Macedonia will be able to successfully conclude the dialogue with the European Commission on the visa liberalization. Most of the requirements have already been met - the Republic of Macedonia is the first country in the region which has introduced biometrical passports, ID cards and driving licenses of the highest quality; the Strategy for Integrated Border Management from 2003, together with the Action Plan, has been fully implemented; the activities concerning the advanced and specialized border police training have been intensified; the TETRA digital police radio system has been put into operation; the cooperation with FRONTEX has been intensified; the visa policy and the visa regime have been harmonized with EU’s lists to a great extent; a visa information system connected with a number of diplomatic and consular missions has been established and the issuing of visas through the visa centre has already started; the capacities in the area of asylum and migration have been enhanced through the establishment of the Reception Centre for Asylum Seekers; tangible results have been achieved in the fight against illegal migration, human trafficking, organized crime and corruption, which have been confirmed by the last report of the US State Department and by Transparency International; etc.

On November 28, 2008, the European Commission published an Initial Assessment on the Fulfillment of the Roadmap Requirements, concluding that Macedonia had achieved a very good progress in all areas and was the most advanced among all countries included in the process. By the publishing of the Initial Report, the first phase of the dialogue was completed.

For the purpose of verifying Macedonia’s achievements in the areas relevant to the visa liberalization, the European Commission conducted two Assessment Missions conducted by experts from the EU member states. The first Assessment Mission concerning the areas of security of documents, as well as public order and security, was conducted in the period from January 19 to January 23, 2009. The second one, concerning border management, asylum and migration, took place in the period from February 16 to February 20, 2009. An expert meeting in regard to the field of foreign relations and human rights was also conducted, as well as a regional seminar on personal data protection, with the participation of representatives of the European Commission and the EU member states. The experts confirmed the initial assessments from the EC Report regarding Macedonia’s fulfillment of the Roadmap requirements and presented their suggestions concerning the future activities.

By the finalization of the Assessment Missions and the expert meetings, the second phase of the dialogue was also concluded. The European Commission is preparing a complete and comprehensive Report on the Fulfillment of the Roadmap Requirements. Macedonia expects that this report will allow the European Commission to start the legal procedure before the EU Council concerning the lifting of the visas for Macedonia during the Czech Presidency, as well as that the visa free regime will come into force by the end of 2009.