On Thursday 4 May, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini hailed the election of the new president of the Assembly of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Talat Xhaferi, who was visiting Brussels, and she called on him "[to be above] the inter-ethnic politics and parties, and to work for the benefit of all the country's citizens and communities".
"The EU is ready to work with him, the parliament and all other institutions to advance the urgent reform priorities as well as the Pržino Agreement implementation" (Ed: the agreement concluded in 2015, with the EU's mediation, between all the country's political parties), she stated.
Mogherini and Xhaferi examined the path to be followed, and the EU said it expected all Macedonian political parties to engage "constructively" in the political process, including on government formation, and in the work of the new parliament.
In addition, Mogherini reiterated the EU's "strong condemnation" of last week's violence against members of parliament and journalists in the Macedonian parliament (see EUROPE 11777). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)