Europe has not stopped in Zagreb. It is coming in Skopje, as it wants to see these two countries, as well as other Balkan states, join its ranks, Prodi said while presenting the questionnaire to Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski.
The EU has invested much in Macedonia and the region in the political sense, Prodi said addressing the Macedonian parliament -- Sobranje.
The EC president went on to say that Macedonia, just as other aspirants, had to meet criteria for EU membership, such as the conclusion of political and economic reforms, including the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement and the further decentralisation and democratisation of the country.
Decentralisation is not a division or weakening of the country, and I believe that Macedonian citizens are aware of the consequences of the referendum on decentralisation. This will be a crossroads leading you either towards stability and prosperity or back to the past, Prodi said.
On 7 November, Macedonians will go to a referendum at which they will express their opinion on whether they accept or refuse a recently adopted law on territorial organisation.
The law, adopted this summer by the Sobranje, is interpreted by opponents, most of whom are Macedonians and some minorities, as the reorganisation of the country to the benefit of local Albanians. On the other hand, the international community favours the said law.