Friday, 23 March 2018
Meeting of the President Xhaferi and the MEPs Kovachev, Petrle and Kelam
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Talat Xhaferi had a meeting with the Delegation of the EPP Groups from the European Parliament, headed by the MEP Andrey Kovatchev, and comprised of the MEPs Alojz Petrle and Tunne Kelam. Mr. Samuel Žbogar, EU Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia attended the Meeting.
The President Xhaferi welcomed the MEPs, whose visit is in the eve of the events to happen in the Republic of Macedonia and confirmed the increased interest of the European institutions, whose assistance shall provide the guidelines for the state institutions in the future.
He expressed pleasure from the fact that the European Parliament renewed the informal groups “Friends of the Republic of Macedonia”, which through its activities should contribute in increased visibility of the state on its European path. The Program of the Troika in the enlargement process, as a strategy investment in peace, democracy, prosperity, security and safety in Europe was welcomed, including the efforts for promotion of the European integration and valorisation of the reforms achieved by each state.
The President Xhaferi underlined that he appreciates the Fact that the Joint Parliamentary Committee – RM – EU, at its most recent meeting, in February 2018 in Strasbourg, confirms the opinion in the Final Remarks that the name dispute should not be an obstacle for the accession negotiations, though the dispute should be resolved as soon as possible.
The MEP Kovatchev expressed appreciation for the meeting and underlined the positive energy he felt in the Republic of Macedonia, emphasising that EPP supports the efforts of the sister parties in the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Greece to seize the window of opportunities and contribute in the resolution of the dispute. He also underlined that the Republic of Macedonia has been in the waiting room of EU for too long, since 2005 and that the positive steps for improvement of the relations with the neighbours and maintaining joint government sessions, are expected to provide positive development in the context of Sofia Summit 2018, where there are positive signals to be sent to the Republic of Macedonia. Mr. Kovatchev underlined that the frontrunner at the beginning and the frontrunner at the finalization of the accession negotiations with EU is up to each state individually and that the outcome of the process is up to the efforts invested by the Republic of Macedonia only.
The President Xhaferi reaffirmed the efforts for the reform processes in the Assembly, in the priority areas and that, aside all challenges, the majority is faced with - the activities are in direction with the reforms of 3 – 6 – 9 Plan of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia which incorporate the Pribe Recommendations. In regard with the good neighbourly relations, he underlined that this Government pays great attention to the promotion of the good neighbourly relations, proof of which is the ratification of the Agreements of Friendship, Good Neighbourliness, and Cooperation with the Republic of Bulgaria, which recently entered into force in both states. In the aforementioned area, the relations with Greece are visibly improving. In this context, he reaffirmed the expectation that the EC Progress Report on the Republic of Macedonia for 2017 will valorise the achieved reforms and contain date on opening accession negotiations.
The interlocutors exchanged views on the Law on Languages, the adoption procedures and the overall legislative procedure pursuant to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia as well as packet of reforms for the judiciary, public administration and defence.