The European future of your country is firm and we consider it a part of the European family, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Saturday in Ohrid at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

"Now it is important for the country to keep on the road to the EU. We wish for you to become a member and join the European family of nations. The EU membership is a gate to stability and prosperity, but to achieve that, all political actors should gravitate around this vital project, which from a strategic perspective should be considered as national consensus, because the future doesn't refer to only tomorrow or after tomorrow, but to the future of many generations," Barroso said.

Asked to comment Macedonia's results in meeting the EU standards, Barroso commended the country's progress, also recognized by the EC recommendation for opening of its EU accession talks.

"It is very important to not slow down the reforms. That is the message I've conveyed today very clearly to PM Gruevski. Basically we are happy with the progress achived, but we insist further advancing is required. This is a very demanding task - to become a member of the European Union is not just to fulfill some bureaucratic, technocratic criteria, it a question of the culture of compromise, modernization of the state, but also of the society as a whole," Barroso said.

Hence, he said, it is important for some political issues in the country to be solved, as well as for the next snap elections to be free and in line with the international standards.

Asked if this year Macedonia may hope for positive EC report, Barroso said he could not anticipate its results.

"As I've already said your country is making an important progress in many areas but we are now making our analysis and we will come with the report after the elections. I cannot anticipate the results of the report but I may say that it will be very objective, serious as always," Barosso said.

Taking a journalist's question, Gruevski said the Government's top priorities for this year referred to reforms of the judiciary, public administration, economy, the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, combat against crime, corruption...

Commenting the status of media in Macedonia, Gruevski said the Government was doing its best to create a free-journalism atmosphere in line with the European directive, urging at the same time for reciprocal media's attitude in the spirit of the EU legislation.

Maybe it would be good for EU representatives to monitor the media and evaluate the level of their freedom in Macedonia, Gruevski said.

Freedom of expression is key--journalists must be able to express their views freely, Barroso said on the matter.

"The Commission doesn't intervene in individual cases, but expects due process and objective application of the law," he said.