Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn has just spoken to SDSM President Zoran Zaev and clarified one issue relating to the cross-party dialogue facilitated by the EU, further to the agreement reached in Skopje on Tuesday, 2 June.
The Commissioner reiterated that he fully and unequivocally supports the assessment of the OSCE/ODIHR about the 2014 Presidential and early Parliamentary elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. He repeated the observations of ODIHR that the elections were efficiently administered, but that there were a number of serious concerns, notably regarding inadequate separation between party and state activities, allegations of voter intimidation and media bias in favour of the governing parties. The European Commission has also regularly voiced concerns about the accuracy of the voters’ lists. All these issues need to be urgently addressed in accordance with the OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission recommendations.
Moreover, the European Commission has on several occasions reiterated the need to investigate all potential wrongdoing arising from the wiretaps, including those related to election fraud.
The Commissioner urged all party leaders to respect commitments made on 2 June to overcome the current crisis, and to continue talks to find a rapid and lasting agreement which must address legitimate concerns about the rule of law and restore public trust in the state institutions. This is in the interest of all citizens of the country.