Debate on the 2015 Report on the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, during the EP Plenary session (7-10 March) in Strasbourg. Statements by Jeanine HENNIS-PLASSCHAERT, Dutch Minister of Defence, Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Ivo VAJGL (ALDE, SI), Tunne KELAM (EPP, EE), Richard Stuart HOWITT (S&amp;D, UK) and Tamas MESZERICS (Greens/EFA, HU)

2015 Report on the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: extracts from the debate

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeanine HENNIS-PLASSCHAERT, Dutch Minister of Defence, Sustainable reforms to address systematic varies in the area of rule of law, public administration, protection of fundamental rights and media freedom, as well as the fight against corruption, remain and continue to remain central for the country's path towards the EU.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeanine HENNIS-PLASSCHAERT, Dutch Minister of Defence, Since some weeks, several unilateral decisions and regional coordinated response were put in place along the Western Balkan route. The European Council on February 18 was very clear that only through concerted action we can address the challenge in a proper manner. There is no alternative to a comprehensive European solution. And yes it is very important that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as our neighbouring and candidate country, plays its part in this process.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeanine HENNIS-PLASSCHAERT, Dutch Minister of Defence, The Commission has stated its readiness to extend its recommendation to open accession negotiations. This shall however be conditional on the continued implementation of the June/July political agreements and on substantial progress in the implementation of the urgent reform priorities.

SOUNDBITE (English), Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, We acknowledge that the country has a good level of preparation and is developing a functional market and economy; it has also relatively good level of alignment with the acquis. This means that the right laws and strategies are more or less in place. The issue as in all these countries is the application and implementation.

SOUNDBITE (English), Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, The inter-ethnic situation remains fragile in the country. Pro-active measures should be undertaken to address inter-ethnic issues and to build greater trust between communities. And in this respect, the review of the Ohrid framework agreement needs to be completed.

SOUNDBITE (Slovenian), Ivo VAJGL (ALDE, SI), On the 5th of June, an early election will be held in Macedonia, putting an end to the political crisis. Would the election unfold in accordance to the democratic standards, the time will come for the Commission to propose, and the Council to finally endorse the opening of negotiations on Macedonia's accession to the European Union under the same terms than in the enlargement process so far.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ivo VAJGL (ALDE, SI), Of course it is a huge problem for a small country if it has to deal with such a big problem on its borders. I think that the European Commission, the European Union has to stand by Macedonia in undertaking the problem at the border.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tunne KELAM (EPP, EE), Boycott of the Parliament by those who lost elections is certainly not in accordance with functioning democracy and is damaging to the country. New elections will have a key importance for all of us, and we appeal to all sides to stick to the national common agreement.

SOUNDBITE (English), Richard Stuart HOWITT (S&amp;D, UK), The European Commission has made the positive recommendation to start the EU accession talks, contingent on forward implementation of the previous note into party agreement, which we helped to negotiate. The European Council has supported him in their December conclusions, and tomorrow this European Parliament will stand squarely with them and say: "preserve your democracy, or the positive recommendation is withdrawn".

SOUNDBITE (English), Richard Stuart HOWITT (S&amp;D, UK), I also note that the special prosecutor investigating the deep allegations of criminality against politicians has told us that she has not received the full cooperation which she needs from the country court system. And in our vote tomorrow we reiterate that she must be given full powers and autonomy to undertake her work.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tam&#225;s MESZERICS (Greens/EFA, HU), We, the European Union, also have a responsibility in this, this is not just the name issue; the name issue is one of them but not the only one. The importance of the Council in finding the much talked about European level, Europe-wide solution to the migration crisis is one of the elements contributing to the crisis, the ill-considered campaign promise of the President of the Commission of a "digestion period" necessary before further enlargement is another element contributing actually to this crisis. These are all important contributions to the loss of perspective in the entire region of the Western Balkans. We are actually losing the region, losing day by day, and we allowed to be messed up politically. And History tells us that that is decidedly a bad idea.

2015 Report on the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: extracts from the debate

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