A five-member delegation from the US Congress is holding a two-day visit to Macedonia.
On Monday, Congressmen Geri Konoli, Dina Titus, Susan Davis, David Price and Bill Florez met with Speaker of the Parliament of Macedonia, Talat Xheferi, and co-ordinators of parliamentary groups.Then the US congressmen met with the chairmen of several parliamentary commissions.
The US Congressional Delegation held also separate meetings with the chairmen and members of the commissions for defense and security, comission on procedural issues, immunity and immunity issues and members of the women's deputy women's club.
The cabinet of the Macedonian Parliament Speaker has announced that US congressmen have appreciated the country's progress in the integration process and have pledged US support for implementation of reforms and the country's journey towards Euro-Atlantic structures.
"The Congressmen expressed their satisfaction with the state's progress on the Euro-Atlantic integration agenda and the strengthening of democracy, especially after the signing of the Agreement between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Greece, stressing that the US will continue to provide support for the Republic of Macedonia in these processes. They also stressed that they appreciate particularly Macedonia's real contribution to NATO's missions, where the Republic of Macedonia is rated as highly qualitative and respected partner," says the notification of Parliament Speaker Xhaferi.
International Relations Experts estimate that by approaching the date for holding a referendum, it is also reinforced the support of the decision-making centers for the referendum to be successful.
International Relations Lecturer Bekim Kadriu, visiting US Congressmen in Skopje, which is happening on the eve of September's referendum, sees it as a diplomatic tool to suggest political entities in Macedonia to support the referendum so that he be successful.
"The US supported generally the negotiation process at the beginning and then the agreement reached between Macedonia and Greece, which now includes the referendum issue, as one of the fundamental steps behind which the agreement is expected to be ratified by the Greek side, to become plenipotentiary. So the referendum is indispensable to be successful in implementing the Greece - Macedonia agreement. "
"The visit of US congressmen can be defined as a visit to the Macedonian Parliament in order to be informed closely about the referendum, but in essence the aim is to deliberately suggest the political parties to make the referendum successful," estimates Bekim Kadriu .