Brussels, 24/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 24 February, Europeans called for the reforms in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to continue. At the end of the evening of 23 February, FYROM's parliament decided to postpone the elections from 24 April until 5 June, and decided to postpone its dissolution from 24 February until 7 April.
“I take careful note of the vote of the parliament to postpone the elections until 5 June. The Przino agreement (the June-July political agreement) is alive and well. All parties must fully commit, help prepare credible elections, and push for priority reforms, including reform of the media”, said European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn.
Visiting Skopje to hold discussions with the country's political leaders, the European Parliament mediators, Ivo Vajgl MEP (ALDE, Slovenia), Richard Howitt MEP (S&D, UK) and Eduard Kukan MEP (EPP, Slovakia) also called for the reforms to continue. “There is no shortcut or alternative to the Przino agreement, and we call on the political parties to reach a consensus on these reforms”, they stated in a joint press release, recalling that the “full” application of the political agreement and the continuation of the reforms were essential and urgent priorities for maintaining the positive recommendation to open the EU's accession negotiations. “We urge the political leaders to continue their commitment to the reforms”, they stated. They hoped that all the political parties would work on creating the conditions for credible elections. The opposition threatened to withdraw its interim government ministers and to boycott the elections if these were not postponed.
In a letter of 21 February, the European and American ambassadors had also called for the postponement of the elections (see EUROPE 11496), stating that the conditions for credible elections were not being met. According to the June-July political agreement, the elections should have taken place before April 2016. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)