The European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) passed early Tuesday the Macedonia Resolution of rapporteur Ivo Vajgl with 47 votes "in favor" and 10 "against", which urges the opening of the country's EU accession talks.
A total of 296 amendments were submitted since Vajgl presented the draft resolution for the first time last month. At Monday's second AFET debate, Vajgl and shadow-rapporteurs for Macedonia came out with 16 compromising amendments, whose main message is opening Macedonia's EU accession talks. They also point out that the bilateral dispute with Greece should not be an obstacle for Macedonia to advance on the road to EU integration, and be resolved simultaneously with the accession talks.
Macedonia's political stability is becoming uncertain due to accusations of alleged crimes, including wiretapping, the AFET Vice-Chair, Croatian MEP Andrej Polenakovic said at the beginning of the debate. The European Parliament calls on all participants to open a constructive dialogue and to launch the realization pf the country's strategic goals, Polenakovic said. The country, he added, should focus on reforms on its road to EU.
"We have prepared 16 compromising amendments out of 296 to the draft-resolution, which cover a series of important issues, such as the ones about the name of the country, the recommendation for commencement of accession talks, media, civic society, inter-ethnic relations and foreign policy," Polenakovic said.
For many years, despite of the EC recommendations, the country has not yet commenced the accession process, which frustrates our colleagues in Macedonia, he noted.
MEP Vajgl said the draft-resolution on Macedonia was a complex matter, adding that many issues in the country were very complex and difficult.
"The European Commission progress report on Macedonia and our reaction to the document is important in order to create a notion of continuity of the enlargement process. Macedonia has been in the process for several years. Many people who have joined in preparing this view, have detected progress and several problems in the country. The stalemate with Greece is one of the main items in the report and Macedonia needs to be given a chance to start negotiations. That does not mean that no action should be taken regarding several issues, they need to be tackled until the negotiation process is finished," stated Vajgl.
The consequences from the impasse in Macedonia's EU accession process are negative and are affecting the economy and most importantly, they are creating a very unfavorable political climate in Macedonia, according to the Slovenian MEP. Vajgl also noted that the EC Progress Report on the country suggested negotiations to be opened and serious efforts to be made in settling some issues related to bilateral relations.
"In this case, the people of Macedonia are faced with an array of political complications, first and foremost a serious crisis in trust. The main political stakeholders from the opposition are boycotting the Parliament and there are serious accusations from both sides in terms of inadequate conduct and cases that should be settled in court to determine whether they have happened," stressed Vajgl.
"It is extremely important, the Slovenian diplomat urged, the EP to call on everyone in the country to engage in the work of the Parliament and to pay attention to all those issues in Macedonia today that are of utmost importance and if need be, the EP to act as mediator in resolving the situation," he said.
In terms of the opening of negotiations, their delay is affecting the inter-ethnic relations in the country. An environment is created that is not favorable for foreign investments, and a negative climate is created in relation to the employment rate. The situation in Macedonia needs to be alleviated, because we must admit that we are a little bit discriminatory towards the country, underlined Vajgl.
The EP Rapporteur for Macedonia said the resolution also highlighted the issue on the freedom of media, doubts on selective pursuit of justice, problems in the treatment of minorities, the LGTB community and other sensitive social issues. Despite covering all these areas, this resolution, according to Vajgl, also acknowledges that Macedonia in the past few years has moved forward in connection to economy progress and employment, as well as regional cooperation and good neighborly ties.
- See more at: http://www.independent.mk/articles/14668/European+Parliament+Committee+Says+Macedonia+Is+Prepared+to+Start+Accession+Talks#sthash.MxKq2biB.dpuf
