Barosso, Fuele Urge Macedonia to Boost Reforms

June elections must be fair, EU officials say | Photo by: Macedonian Government

“Now is the time to settle the name issue, and the new climate of confidence between your country and Greece should be seized,” Jose Manuel Barroso said during a speech on Saturday at a debate on Macedonia's EU future in Skopje.

Barroso was accompanied by EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele.

The visit to Skopje, which came as part of their Balkan tour, also included talks with Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

The top EU officials also spoke with Ali Ahmeti, the head of the largest ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration, and the leader of the main opposition Social Democrats, Branko Crvenkovski.

The officials expressed concern about the reforms process in the country as it moves towards accession into the EU. Barroso warned that if the country fails to maintain the pace of reforms seen in previous years, it could lag behind in its accession process.

"It is very important not to slow down the reforms,” Barosso said after meeting PM Gruevski. He proposed increased control over the pace of reforms through meetings between EU and Macedonian officials, which would be held twice a year in Skopje and Brussels.

The officials also urged local political players to be constructive and to settle differences through dialogue and compromise. They were referring to the ongoing political gridlock in the country, which intensified in January when the opposition left the parliament in protest over weakened democratic conditions and the slowed EU bid.

Barroso and Fuele said that it is of key importance that the forthcoming June elections be free and fair in order to help overcome the gridlock.

Addressing media freedom in Macedonia, another weak point pinpointed in previous EU reports on Macedonia, Barroso said “journalists must be able to express their views freely”.

Macedonia has been an EU candidate country since 2005, and the European Commission gave a green light for the start of its accession talks in 2009 and again in 2010.

However, talks have not begun because of Greece's objection to the country’s official name, Republic of Macedonia.

Athens and Skopje have been locked in a two decade dispute over the name Macedonia. Greece insist that the name implies Skopje’s territorial claims against its own northern province, which is also called Macedonia.

Barroso and Fuele came to Skopje on Saturday after visiting Zagreb, Sarajevo, and Podgorica as part of their tour of the Balkans, aimed at reaffirming the EU’s commitment to the integration of the region.