TIRANA, Dec. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- European leaders decided early Saturday to grant Macedonia EU candidate status.

    According to MIA, the Macedonian news agency, in the statement issued at the end of the two-day EU Summit, EU leaders highly praised "the significant progress" of the country in the fulfillment of the political and economic membership criteria.

    Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski addressed Saturday to the public on occasion of the EU leaders' decision to grant Republic of Macedonia candidate status, saying it "an enormous success of our country and for our people".

    Macedonia submitted its application for EU membership on March 22, 2004 in Dublin. Skopje and Brussels established diplomatic relations by the end of 1995.

    Macedonia was the first country in the region to sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement in April 2001. Enditem