BRUSSELS, 24.02.2015 – Standing rapporteurs for Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia held their resolutions to vote this Tuesday morning in the Foreign Affairs. All four reports were supported with an overwhelming majority in the Committee, and will now be put to a vote in the plenary session in Strasbourg, which will take place the second week of March.
Eduard Kukan, Member of the Committee for Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Parliamentary Delegation for Relations with Serbia, took part in the discussions preceding the votes:
“Montenegro has shown steady progress on its road to the EU, demonstrated by 16 open chapters. We salute the government on alignment with the CFSP of the EU and for playing a positive role in the region in regards to cultivating good neighborly relations. We would like to see a continuous effort to further tackle corruption, foster media freedom and an increased role of the Parliament in the accession negotiations
I supported, yet again, Macedonia in its ambitions to open the accession negotiations and start the formal integration process. However, I am quite disturbed when looking at the recent political situation. First of all, it is unfortunate that the political stalemate in the country has evolved in the sharp confrontation between the opposition and the ruling party. The wire-tapping scandal is hitting the very basics of the political and democratic system in Macedonia and even more, undermining the trust of its citizens in politics.
Recently, it is becoming clearer what the consequences of failures in economic and social policies in Kosovo are. The growth of the asylum seekers and people desperately fleeing the country is just one of many examples. It will be also important for the new government to prioritize on issues such as fight against corruption and organize crime, which remains one of the most tangible problems in Kosovo and in the region.
We have underlined the main achievements and pushing for opening the first negotiating chapters with Serbia. We also need to stress the importance of independence of judiciary and rule of law, while supporting the work of the Ombudsman’s office. We should be looking very closely to developments in these areas.
Ultimately, I welcome that the Belgrade-Prishtina dialogue resumed on February 9th, and I hope that a constructive dialogue, held in good faith, will continue.”