Brussels, 03/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - During the evening of Tuesday 2 June, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn announced that the political leaders of the majority and the opposition in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) had agreed on organising early parliamentary elections - by April 2016. The elections were initially due to be held in 2018. The objective of the change is to put an end to the political crisis that is shaking the country.
“It was agreed that by the end of April next year there should be early elections”, Hahn told press in Skopje at the end of his meeting with the Macedonian political leaders. “But it is important to prepare the country”, he added, putting emphasis on sound electoral codes, a revised voting list and the respect for minority rights.
Hahn added that it would be important for the country to accept “all the recommendations being given by the European Commission when it comes to the independence of the judiciary”. “We have agreed to apply the methodology usually used when we negotiate [accession negotiation] Chapters 23 [judicial apparatus and fundamental rights] and 24 [freedom, security and justice]”, he said. The country, which has been an EU accession candidate since 2005, has not yet opened accession negotiations. Hahn added that among other areas, attention should be paid to the independence of justice and freedom of the media. “All this will be applied and will help to modernise the country further and give it a European perspective”, he said.
Hahn announced that a new meeting is planned in Brussels next week “to have a final agreement”. “We have to work [in FYROM] in the spirit of cooperation, of a necessary political compromise, in order to have a necessary balance between the different powers, between the different groups of society, and that's why we have agreed to foresee a kind of transitional period”, he said, stating that it was for the political parties to have a fair and serious competition.
Hahn warned that it was important to overcome the current crisis in order to keep the Euro-Atlantic perspective “alive”. “That's why we have a certain time pressure”, he added. The next progress report on FYROM is due to be published in October. The Commission has been recommending the opening of negotiations for six years. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)