The Secretariat for European Affairs celebrates Friday 20th its anniversary and establishment of relations with EU by scientific conference “The Republic of Macedonia on its Path towards the European Union (2020)-Experiences, Challenges and Perspectives.” The event is organized in cooperation with the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts – MANU.
Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Arber Ademi believes that the path to the European perspective should be shown to our citizens and we should be given an opportunity for Macedonia to start accession negotiations.
The political situation in the country is in a complex phase. It requires common sense and politically responsible people. There is no other alternative for our European future, but democratic, credible elections and widely recognized election results, functional and democratic institutions, further aggressive implementation of urgent reform priorities, granting the EC recommendation for start of accession negotiations, deepening good neighborly relations and resuming proactive and positive approach to all regional initiatives and regional cooperation in general, Ademi said.
The continuation of internal political turmoil, dysfunctional institutions, growing Euro skepticism may lead to losing the EC recommendation for start of accession negotiations, said Ademi.
MANU President Taki Fiti said that there is no other development perspective of the Republic of Macedonia outside the EU given the size of the market, our geographical background to this region and given the fact that we have a very small economy and our enterprises cannot competitive and achieve economies of scale, without so wide and strong market, as the one of the EU, with more than 500 million people, with tremendous buying power.
EU Ambassador Aivo Orav referred to the political situation in Macedonia.
We are witnessing a serious political crisis with deep roots and disrespect of the rule of law. There is no time to waste. The situation must be solved immediately. This particularly refers to the President’s pardoning decision, the independence of the judiciary, the working conditions of Special Public Prosecutor’s Office and credible elections, Orav said.
He underlined that media freedom is key component from democratic governance and democratic rule. The EU has repeatedly pointed out the shortcomings that should be removed, as self-censorship, unbalanced reporting and nontransparent funding of the media.
He added that EU puts strong accent on the functioning of democratic institutions and the reform of public administration. It requires political will by political doers to resolve these problems.
It requires political will by political doers to resolve these problems. Unfortunately, not much has been done to address these problems. Some of you will say "The current situation is the result of blocking the country for years and that foreigners are to blame for the crisis." Yes, we all know that name issue need to be resolved, but that is no excuse for the serious violations of fundamental rights and democratic principles, Orav said.
US Ambassador to Macedonia Jess Baily said that EU and USA are cooperating for nearly 20 years in the Balkans.
The United States supports Macedonia on the road to EU and will continue to do this. Much of our programs as the USAID help Macedonia to meet the criteria for membership. Our mission, the European delegation, the US Embassy help to solve the political conflict and Macedonia to reach the standards of the rule of law, Baily said.
Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki referred to the EU enlargement policy, which today may be regarded as one of the most successful.
According to him, when we will be part of the EU, the name dispute, imposed obstacles in terms of European integration, internal political confrontations would be relaxed or non-existent. Poposki also reminded on the reforms that Macedonia has accomplished in the past years, adding EU admission will bring stability and improved economy.