Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-16-Speech-3-173"
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"en.20010516.6.3-173"2
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".
Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission welcomes the efforts of the Macedonian leadership, which culminated in the formation of a larger coalition government on Sunday, and hopes that this new government will achieve tangible results in the dialogue between the parties. As you know, this dialogue started a few weeks ago in cooperation with the European Union.
We shall also continue to support the new government in promoting tolerance and restraint and applying the principle of “dialogue not force” in order to settle differences of opinion. My colleague Chris Patten and the presidency will transmit this message to the new government and the president of the country when the troika of ministers of the European Union visits Skopje today.
The Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Union and Macedonia was signed in Luxembourg on 9 April. This was a very important and, without doubt, an historic step towards stability in the Balkans as a whole. Macedonia is the first country in the region to sign such an agreement. The second agreement with Croatia was initialled in Brussels last month.
The agreement is symbolic of the close relations between the Union and Macedonia and will provide a basis for fast rapprochement with the European Union. The most important aspects of the agreement are the creation of free trade zone between the Community and Macedonia within ten years of the date on which the agreement enters into force, the start of political dialogue, provisions on regional cooperation, an undertaking by the Macedonian authorities to harmonise their laws with EC law, especially provisions relating to the internal market, and cooperation on justice and home affairs.
The agreement makes it quite clear that Macedonia has European prospects. These prospects now need to be given tangible form. The agreement does not therefore represent the end of a process, it represents the beginning of a difficult process for this country. It is now up to Macedonia to prove to the European Union that it has the will to fulfil the underlying criteria and, most importantly, this country must now show that it is in a position to resolve conflicts between ethnic groups through political dialogue rather than by force.
The EU shall continue to give its unrestricted support. The Commission condemns the renewed acts of terrorism in northern Macedonia and urges all the members of the Albanian minority to leave it to the two official Albanian parties to explain the demands of this ethnic minority within a democratic forum, either with the new government or with the special committee chaired by President Trajkovski.
The European Union is already doing its best to facilitate this dialogue. As the members of the European Parliament know, we are in an extremely critical phase in the history of Macedonia. The European Union shall continue to express its solidarity with this country and its confidence in its people. As far as we are concerned, the major objective of stabilising the Balkans cannot be achieved unless the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Macedonia are guaranteed.
However, the basic effort needs to be made by the people themselves and their political leaders. They themselves are responsible for the future of their country. In all events, we shall promote continuing dialogue leading to tangible results. We are positive that a peaceful and democratic process which attends to the legitimate concerns of the minorities is the only way to set Macedonia on course for Europe."@en1
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