Austrian Member of European Parliament (MEP) Paul Rubig has thanked Macedonia for preventing the migrant influx to the continent and commended the government for its economic results, MIA reports.
Rubig also expressed surprise over the opposition's efforts to disrupt this success at the expense of the Macedonian people.
"I am well acquainted with Macedonia's economic results and proud that that the country's economy is improving. I commend your government for the excellent work. However, I cannot understand the opposition's efforts to disrupt this success. There is no reason for this if new jobs are created, and your government is properly doing this. Therefore, the EU should be careful when it comes to the opposition, which should think a bit about the country's citizens, not only about gaining political points", says Rubig, a member of the Austrian People's Party.
He especially thanks Macedonia due to the fact that it prevented an enormous migrant influx in Europe. According to him, when the Schengen and Dublin systems had been developed, they aimed at eliminating borders within the EU and protecting its external border. Despite the unanimous decision, he says the Greek people voted for a Communist regime, which decided it was not necessary to comply with its commitments, which resulted in many refugees arriving in Greece and then transferred via the Balkan route to Austria, Germany and Sweden.
"Of course, these countries accommodated as many people as they could, but reached a limit. Then came the Balkan conference, where Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz took the initiative of making the Macedonian border the first point of building trust. We are very grateful that Macedonia protected Europe's borders and helped maintain the legality of the European system. Greece had a big problem in delivering what they promised and I believe Europe was glad to see Macedonia undertake legal actions on the field", says Rubig.
He stressed that in light of tight EU-Russia relations and problems in the 'third world' regarding the migrant crisis, Brussels has started to recognize its true friends.
It is very important for us to see who are our friends that can be trusted and can deliver stability in Europe. Macedonia was the first to say 'OK, Greece cannot cope with the problems. We are Europeans and will help Europe in securing its legal certainty'. I believe this was the best sign that we are living in a united Europe and that some of the extreme center-left and center-right do not accept our system of democracy. This is not a struggle against Europe, but against our peaceful, democratic society built on consensus. We want higher salaries, good jobs, peace and compromise for the purpose of tolerance and respect", says Rubig.
The Austrian MEP believes transparency in media financing is very important, because some media are abused outside the EU. He adds media pluralism is important for Brussels as foundation for proper democratic development.
"Of course, we need to see if media try to do a good job by promoting the truth or misinformation. Some media, as seen in Great Britain, created a real mess by presenting lies and a negative campaign. The media issue is very important for the EU and we are closely monitoring the situation in Macedonia in this regard", emphasizes Rubig.
Referring to the UK referendum and whether it will result in the closure of doors for new EU memberstates, he says the Brexit will produce the opposite, i.e. give new opportunities for countries who want to join the EU values.
Rubig says is it important for the Balkans to create peace among different societies, because being united in Europe is beneficial for the region.
"We will step up our efforts to launch negotiations as soon as possible and promote new EU members. We want a success story, not the opposite. Regarding Great Britain, maybe Scotland or Northern Ireland will want to join, meaning even little England will want to remain. It is the same for Macedonia. I believe the financial crisis in Greece and the country's communist government will stimulate Europe in providing increased support to Macedonia in solving the problem that hinders its future", underlines MEP Rubig.