Strasbourg, 21/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - The presidents of the S&D and EPP Groups, Hannes Swoboda and Joseph Daul, underlined, on 21 May, how important it is to take forward the process for membership of the EU by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
Swoboda had hoped that the vote on Richard Howitt's report, debated on 22 May and voted on the following day, could unblock things and allow for negotiations to begin. He said that “once Croatia joins the EU, there will be a void in the Balkans. This is why it is very important that Macedonia is the next candidate with which an agreement can be negotiated”. Nonetheless, he did call for further efforts to be made by the FYROM government and explained that “opening negotiations does not only depend on neighbouring countries such as Greece and Bulgaria but also on Macedonia's government for reducing nationalism and provocation, in an effort to find an agreement with Greece and Bulgaria”.
Daul pointed out that “in the context of enlargement, if a country respects the conditions, we respect the conditions”. Faced with comments that Greece was blocking the opening up of negotiations by pointing to this problem, Daul added that “one day or other the problem involving the name will need to be settled”. Gunnar Hökmark (EPP, Sweden) said that Croatia's accession is more important than a parliamentary report on the Balkan countries because “this effectively underlines that these countries can become members if they leave the past behind and avoid petty conflicts. The political impetus for Croatia's accession is very important from this point of view”.
The Council is expected to give its position in June on whether to open accession negotiations with FYROM. Opening negotiations will require unanimity, which is blocked by Greece due to the problem of the name but also because of the complicated relations with Skopje (see EUROPE 10834). (CG/transl.fl)