Brussels, 30/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 27 May, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn regretted that only some of the pardons granted by former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) President Gjorge Ivanov on 12 April (see EUROPE 11531) had been rescinded. Ivanov announced on 27 May that he had rescinded the pardons of 22 of the 56 people concerned by the April decision, in other words “all the people politically exposed”, and he said that other people who wanted their pardons rescinded could make a request for this.
“President Ivanov's decision to annul pardons for only a number of people is not sufficient”, Hahn tweeted, although he and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini had asked on 18 April for all the pardons to be rescinded (see EUROPE 11533). “As stated repeatedly by the EU, a comprehensive solution is key to avoid selective justice”, Hahn added.
Back from visiting Skopje on 26-27 May, the director general of the European Commission's DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Christian Danielsson, also said on 27 May that it was “imperative that the presidential pardons are rescinded”. “In a candidate country for EU accession there must be full accountability and equal treatment before the law”, he said in a press release. “There can be no impunity or selective justice”, he added.
Danielsson also said more generally that “political leaders and the relevant authorities must urgently address this situation, in the interest of the citizens and in order to bring the country back onto its Euro-Atlantic path”. “The Przino [political] agreement is of overriding importance (…). This framework remains the best way to move the country out of the current crisis”, he added. He once again stated that it was important to implement the much needed reforms and to prepare credible elections. The special prosecutor and her team must also be allowed to do their job, Danielsson added, warning that the undermining of the work of the special prosecutor's office was “a red line for the international community”. He did not, however, give any further detail on this. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)