Macedonian and Croatian Efforts Endorsed by EP

56 members of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee endorsed the resolution on Macedonia, five opposed it and five MEPs abstained.

Slovenian MEP Zoran Thaler, who wrote the Macedonia report and tabled the resolution, expressed hope that the strong support for Macedonia’s EU accession would be seen as a positive signal for speeding up the “name” talks between Skopje and Athens in order to find a solution to the row as soon as possible.

“What we need is a concrete proposal” for a new compromise name for Macedonia that would be acceptable to both sides, he said.

The resolution adopted urges the European Union to assist the current efforts to resolve the row. It also reminded Macedonian authorities to refrain from provocations towards neighbors.

Thaler warned that the blockade of Macedonia’s accession to the EU could evoke the spirits of the past and kindle ethnic tensions in the county between the Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority.

Last fall the country got a positive report from the European Commission including a recommendation for a start to its accession talks with the EU.

However, due to its unresolved bilateral “name” row with Greece, the country did not receive a start date for the talks in December at the EU Council meeting.

The EU said it would reconsider the start date issue in the first half of this year, with the hope that Athens and Skopje will resolve the name row in the coming months.

MEPs also gave positive overall assessment to the Croatian EU effort. They concluded that the accession negotiations with Croatia could be finished this year.

Croatia's successful accession would give a "positive impetus" to the process of integrating the rest of the Western Balkans region into Europe, says the adopted resolution.

But Croatia still needs to make efforts to strengthen its public administration, pursue reform of the judiciary "more resolutely", vigorously combat corruption and organised crime, and ensure the sustainability of refugee return.