Today the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia responsible for European Affairs, Dr. Fatmir Besimi, had an official meeting with Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Robert Walter, rapporteur of the Monitoring Comettee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for the Post-monitoring Dialogue with the Republic of Macedonia.

At the meeting, the progress of the Republic of Macedonia achieved in the area of European integration was discussed, with Deputy Prime Minister Besimi emphasising the progress achieved in the implementation of activities under the European agenda. In this context, Besimi pointed out that the High Level Accession Dialogue introduced a new dynamics into the implementation of reforms in the five key areas and that the progress was duly acknowledged in the Spring Report of the European Commission.

Deputy Prime Minister Besimi also mentioned the activities undertaken for addressing the priorities of the High Level Accession Dialogue, especially in the area of the freedom of expression, electoral reform, public administration and judiciary reforms, promoting inter-ethnic relations and the measures for maintaining economic stability, reducing unemployment rate and creating jobs for the young population. In this context, Besimi underlined the important contribution of the experts of the Council of Europe in the preparation of the Law on Civil Liability for Insult and Defamation and the Draft Law on the Media and Audio-Visual Media Services, which is still in procedure.

“We remain dedicated to the fulfilment of the obligations we have undertaken as part of the Euro-integration process and we expect the European Council to acknowledge the progress reported 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”, stated Besimi.
The meeting was concluded with the representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Besimi welcoming the establishment of the Committee of Inquiry and expecting it to successfully perform its function in the forthcoming period.