Bildt, who until recently was seen by many as a strong candidate for the post of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, is preparing the ground for a critical EU foreign affairs meeting on 7 December.
EU ministers are expected to decide on the future of Turkey's EU negotiations, which are blocked over Turkey's refusal to open its ports and airports to Cyprus, as well as on opening accession negotiations with Macedonia.
Although the landlocked Balkan country received the status of a candidate country in 2005, it has not been able to start accession talks due to an unresolved 'name dispute' with Greece.
A friendly guest
Bildt did not get the EU high representative job partly because he is seen as too sympathetic to Turkey, at least from the perspective of Paris and Berlin. He grabbed headlines in Turkey when he told the European Parliament on Wednesday (25 November) that Europe should honour its promise to give Ankara full membership. But he also added that Turkey must comply with the Ankara Protocol - a decision from 2004 that Turkey should open its ports to Cyprus.
The Swedish minister also derided comments made in EU circles against Turkey's EU bid alleging that the country is "too big" and "too Muslim". Nothing in the EU treaties prevents Turkey from joining the Union, he said.
However, no breakthrough is apparent in the carefully-worded communiqué issued following Bildt's talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and EU Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagiş on Thursday (26 November).
Spain's State Secretary for Europe Diego Lopez Garrido, who travelled alongside Bildt on behalf of the upcoming Spanish EU Presidency, said his country was hoping to secure progress in Turkey's accession talks when it takes over the EU presidency on 1 January 2010.
Unannounced visit
In Macedonia, Bildt arrived "unannounced" yesterday evening, according to press reports. His visit took place on the eve of a crucial bilateral meeting between the prime ministers of Macedonia and Greece, Nikola Gruevski and George Papandreou (EurActiv 25/11/09).
Gruevski and Papandreou are expected "to seek a formula" which would allow Greece not to veto a decision by EU foreign ministers, due on 7 December, to set a date for opening accession negotiations with Macedonia.
Again, little information on the talks between Bildt and Gruevski filtered through. The official Macedonian agency MINA reported that Bildt came to "discuss a way of avoiding a possible Greek veto on the beginning of accession talks with Brussels".
