Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-07-11-Speech-3-370"
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"en.20070711.31.3-370"2
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"Madam President, I would like to thank you for a very substantive and responsible debate. I fully agree with Mrs Ibrisagic, who underlined the security aspect of EU enlargement. We often talk only about integration capacity, but fortunately the December European Council last year was able to renew our consensus on enlargement, with the support of Parliament and the initiative of the Commission.
This renewed consensus on enlargement covers both sides of the coin: the strategic importance of enlargement for security and stability for enhancing our values of democracy and human rights, and combining it with integration capacity of the Union. Both sides are essential and both sides are important for a carefully managed EU accession process.
In this regard the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is a prime example. In 2001 the country was on the brink of a civil war. In 2005 the country was granted candidate status. It is a success story in this sense.
Last year we saw slower progress in the reforms, but that is a further reason why 2007 should the year when the country gets back on track on the European road, through the determined reforms that lead to practical results. Therefore, the focus for the government and all political parties should not be on dates for opening EU accession negotiations but rather on pursuing the reform process with full determination and practical results.
The reforms are the journey that will lead to the destination of opening the negotiations and then one day closing such negotiations. For that, the objective of EU accession should not become a party political football: all parties should be united in pursuing this objective and fostering a political climate conducive to the successful adoption of the necessary reforms.
That is why the mission of the representative of the parliamentary delegation of the country today here in Strasbourg is of paramount importance, and I trust they will carry this significant message back home with them to Skopje.
Finally, the Commission notes that there has been no progress recently on the name issue, as Mr Lobo Antunes said. That situation pretty much covers the past 15 years. The Commission hopes that both parties could renew their efforts, with a constructive approach to find a negotiated and mutually acceptable solution on the main issue under the auspices of the United Nations, thereby contributing to regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations."@en1
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