Macedonia expects to be part of EC enlargement strategy

The leaders of the Government of Macedonia aim for the country to be part of the European Commission's (KE) enlargement strategy, expected to be published in February of this year.

Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bujar Osmani for Radio Free Europe says 2018 presents an extremely important year for Macedonia's prospects as a state, as in terms of the country's integration towards Euro-Atlantic structures, as well as internal political cohesion.

Of course, we expect to receive an unconditional report first in February. So, in February, the Republic of Macedonia becomes part of the European Commission's enlargement strategy, the strategy warned by Mr. [Jean-Claude], respectively. Juncker and at the May 17th 2008 summit scheduled to be held in Sofia, Macedonia's European perspective is verified. Of course, our expectations are that in June of this same year we will get the date for starting Macedonia's membership talks with the European Union”, Osmani says.

But, European Policy Institute Director Simonida Kacarska for Radio Free Europe says the realisation of Macedonia's aspirations as a state to be part of the European family, largely depends on how many of the country's leading structures will achieve the obligations clearly defined by Brussels, even on a list of specific points: judicial reforms, reforms in intelligence services and reforms in public administration.

The “of particular importance is for the Government of Macedonia during this time period to mark visible progress in these three areas, especially with regard to the realisation of reforms in the judiciary, as well as reforms related to the pursuit of communications , to be paved as arguments before the European Commission that Macedonia is committed to fulfilling the specific obligations in terms of Euro-integration processes”, Kacarska says.

Officials of political developments simultaneously stress that Brussels will by no means see through fingers Macedonia undergoing as a state, due to the impasse of the Parliament, a fragile parliamentary majority following the departure of one of the government's coalition partners, the Alliance for Albanians, as well as boycott of the institution's work by the largest Macedonian party V. MRO-DPMNE's.

In this direction, Macedonia's deputy prime minister on integration issues Bujar Osmani says that to push forward Euro-integration processes involving realisation of reforms, it is more than necessary to reach a broad social consensus, which will be overparty, overethnic and individual interests.

“And therefore, I have requested and called on the public to freeze party agendas, individual and ethnic agendas, at least for just six months, and to seize this historic opportunity for Macedonia to become NATO members, start negotiations on membership with the EU, and then we will have time to make political and party races between” itself.

We don't dare, we just have historical responsibilities as politicians, but also as citizens that this opportunity has been given us, as I'm going to predict Mrs. [Federica] The Moghrin in the first half of 2018, this train that will pass through the Western Balkans and which state will be able to climb, will depend strictly on the work that every state in particular has done”, Osmani says.

And the most important thing is that this train will not be repeated for a long time, so we have to do our best as a position together with the opposition, to get up to this train leading to Brussels because Macedonia's alternative”, he says.

By contrast, European Commission Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker after meeting with Macedonia's prime minister, Zoran Zaev, in Brussels in December last year, has praised Macedonia's recently installed reports with neighbouring countries, particularly signing the agreement with Bulgaria, as well as establishing the most relaxed relations between Skopje and official Athens. Although Juncker has underlined that Brussels expects Macedonia to push ahead decisively towards full implementation of reforms defined in the Government plan, known as the 3-6-9 plan. / REL/