Romanian and Italian presidents will be the only Central European heads of states who will not take part in the 5th Summit of Central Europe Heads of State held in Macedonia on May 2-3 2008.
A total of 17 presidents will take part at the meeting in the town of Ohrid. The event is considered a gesture to Macedonia since it will be the largest gathering of top level state officials in the country ever.
Macedonian president Branko Crvenkovski was quoted by Macedonian news agency MINA as saying that his Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano was involved in the process of composing the new government, while Romanian President Traian Basescu had domestic commitments.
That was why Italy and Romania will be represented by their ambassadors.
As for the youngest country in Europe, Kosovo, Crvenkovski said that Macedonia, being the host-country, could not invite a state towards which it had not built an official stance, and since some of the participant-countries have recognised Kosovo's independence and others not, a consensus on the issue was unattainable.
A total of 17 presidents will take part at the meeting in the town of Ohrid. The event is considered a gesture to Macedonia since it will be the largest gathering of top level state officials in the country ever.
Macedonian president Branko Crvenkovski was quoted by Macedonian news agency MINA as saying that his Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano was involved in the process of composing the new government, while Romanian President Traian Basescu had domestic commitments.
That was why Italy and Romania will be represented by their ambassadors.
As for the youngest country in Europe, Kosovo, Crvenkovski said that Macedonia, being the host-country, could not invite a state towards which it had not built an official stance, and since some of the participant-countries have recognised Kosovo's independence and others not, a consensus on the issue was unattainable.
