On adopting the report by Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew Europe, Bulgaria) on the European Commission’s 2019-2020 report on North Macedonia (558 votes in favour, 70 against and 59 abstentions) on Thursday 25 March, MEPS called on Member States to honour their commitments and show real political will to enable the EU Council to approve the negotiating box. They also ask them to hold the first intergovernmental conference with North Macedonia as soon as possible.
While a large majority of MEPs voted in favour of the call (563 in favour, 87 against and 37 abstentions), most Bulgarian MEPs voted against.
Mr Kyuchyuk’s report also regrets that Bulgaria and North Macedonia have yet to reach agreement on outstanding bilateral issues, calling for a compromise on an action plan with concrete measures.
Furthermore, the European Parliament said that the Macedonian authorities and political parties should continue their joint efforts to strengthen democracy and the transformation process, continue to fight corruption and consolidate the rule of law, good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation, while fostering a climate favourable to media freedom and civil society.
See the report: https://bit.ly/2Qt92td (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)