Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-02-16-Speech-3-265"
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"en.20000216.14.3-265"2
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"Mr President, I found what Mr Souladakis said much more sensible than the statements by other colleagues from his Member State. So I must say quite plainly that anyone who tries to tie the agreement with Macedonia to resolving the issue of the country’s name, as he does, will not only find Macedonia itself against him but all the other EU Member States too. Let me also say quite openly that he is thereby doing huge damage to his own country’s interests. It is in our interest to see stability and peace in the Balkans, and there is a chance of that, although the Stability Pact is in danger of becoming a stillborn entity. I hope that is not the case, but the risk is there. That is precisely why it is so urgent for the EU to take a bilateral approach to the individual states and for us to open up definite prospects of EU membership for Macedonia. So I welcome Mr Swoboda’s excellent report, especially paragraph 12, which quite clearly maps out a European, an EU, prospect for Macedonia. Without indulging in any illusions, I believe that is important, it has to happen.
We know it cannot happen overnight, but a definite statement to the effect that Macedonia is quite clearly a European country and therefore has the right to be a member of the European Union is a most important, confidence-building measure. In my view, this is a unique opportunity to strengthen a democracy that has not only established a unique multi-ethnic government in this region but is also strengthening the autonomy of the local authorities, reforming the judicial and economic systems, and doing so under the most difficult conditions, in the aftermath of nationalism, Communism and war.
A few years ago, I had the privilege of inviting the current President and Prime Minister here as private individuals. At the time they were still finding it very difficult to build on their various contacts here. I am very happy to see they have kept the promise they made at the time: to build up a profoundly European democracy. We must thank them for playing this important role in moving towards peace, stability and democracy, at a very critical time last year, as I said, and at a strategically crucial point. So we are not just the donors here, we were also the recipients, and we owe it to the Macedonians to thank them for fulfilling a crucial European mission at that time. That is why it is important to negotiate and ratify the agreement promptly, rapidly to upgrade the EU representation to official delegation status, for our Commissioner to visit Macedonia very soon, as I hear he will, and for us to open up a definite prospect of EU membership for this country, as the Swoboda report does."@en1
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