Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-02-Speech-3-133"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20010502.9.3-133"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, more than a year ago, in a report on the same subject Mr Swoboda remarked that Macedonia is, in fact, a stabilising factor within the Balkans. He spoke those words with the backing of the entire Parliament because, of course, we remember the time before the Yugoslav wars, when Macedonia, in particular, played an extremely intelligent and constructive role by drafting compromises to make the warring parties change course. That is something which we will not forget in a hurry.
Secondly, we remember the reception in Macedonia of refugees from Kosovo: that too was an enormous effort which caused the necessary tension within Macedonia. It was not an easy task and we will not forget this.
The western world, and the European Union too, on the other hand, have not always behaved impeccably towards Macedonia. A boycott was introduced, the effects of which Macedonia had to shoulder. Macedonia was fobbed off with humanitarian aid and was not really given any opportunities for its own industry. It is extremely important for the European Union to take an emphatic and positive step forward now with this Stabilisation and Association Agreement, by means of which fresh opportunities will be created for Macedonian industry.
Needless to say, we were also critical of Macedonia, and still are, because it was slow in establishing interethnic relations. But all hell is breaking loose precisely at a time when the University of Tetovo is turning over a new leaf by offering opportunities to Albanian-speaking groupings in Macedonia, as a result of which the official apparatus will probably be less one-sided. It is extremely unfortunate that the Copenhagen criteria, which apply across the board to all candidate countries, are at now risk there. I would therefore call on the Macedonian politicians to make a special effort to act as advocates for the constitutional state, because in this way they will be welcome to join the union of constitutional states of which we are all part."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples