Following the debate in the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee on the Commission’s 2016 Report on the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D Group) vice-president Victor Boştinaru made the following statement:
“After the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) was not able to form a government by the deadline which expired last night, the party which came second in the elections, the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), should now be given the chance to form a majority government. We call upon (Macedonian) president Ivanov to allow for the swift creation of a new government that will fully restore rule of law in the country, implement the Pržino Agreement and the Urgent Reform Priorities and support the Special Prosecutor’s Office”, reads in the statement published on the Group’s website.
S&D MEP and shadow rapporteur on the country, Tonino Picula, in the sam statement added:
“Bearing in mind that president Ivanov gave the mandate to the first ranking party that failed to secure a majority, we now expect him to act in an unbiased and responsible manner and give the opportunity to the second party in the Parliament, as has been the practice in the past”.
“The country urgently needs to get out of the protracted crisis by having an accountable and stable reform-oriented government”, Picula said in a statement.