Today, Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia responsible for European Affairs, Mr Fatmir Besimi, is on a work visit to Brussels, where he had an address before members of the European Parliament concerning the debate entitled “From Dream to Reality: new impetus for the reform processes”.
In his address, Deputy Prime Minister Besimi emphasised that the process of unification of the European countries has brought peace, stability and prosperity to the continent of Europe and in this respect represents a crucial impetus for many European countries, including the Republic of Macedonia, to join the European Union.
In this context, Besimi draw attention to the fact that EU membership is a strategic orientation of the country and that is the reason why the Government is fully dedicated to implementing all necessary reform processes, in particular the areas encompassed by the High Level Accession Dialogue, which enabled the introduction of a new dynamics into the overall process.
Deputy Prime Minister Besimi also mentioned the progress achieved in the implementation of the activities of the High Level Accession Dialogue, such as the decriminalisation of defamation, the translation of the relevant judgements of the European Court for Human Rights, the amendments to the election legislation and clearing of the Voters’ List, reforms in the public administration and the judiciary, as well as the measures for maintaining economic stability, decreasing the unemployment rate and providing employment for the young population.
“The positive momentum of the implementation of reforms under the European agenda must be maintained. We expect that the European Council to justly assess the progress acknowledged in the Spring Report of the European Commission and the Resolution on the Progress of the Republic of Macedonia adopted by the European Parliament on 23 May 2013. The progress achieved in the areas of justice, freedom and security was duly acknowledged by the EU Member States in the conclusions of the General Council of 11 December 2012, which encouraged the country to continue the HLAD reforms, the promotion of good neighbourly relations and finding a mutually acceptable solution to the name dispute. We remain dedicated to promoting the dialogue with the media and finding joint solutions for the improvement of the election legislation, whereas the leaders of the political parties that reached an agreement on 1 March this year are to be focused on the implementation thereof and the Committee of Inquiry for the events of 24 December 2012 is to be established and made functional,” stated Besimi.
The Members of the European Parliament such as Richard Howitt, who is also a Rapporteur for Macedonia, Jelko Kacin and Eduard Kukan addressed the participants of the debate as well.