Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-09-Speech-3-070"

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"en.20080409.20.3-070"2
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"Thank you, Mr President. The report is good throughout. It is well balanced and gives an objective description of developments in Macedonia; commending what has been achieved and appealing for a little more time to be devoted to what remains to be done. But, as so often before, the debate is reduced to discussing our various views of the dispute over the country’s name rather than working out how we can get Macedonia into the EU as soon as possible. We all know what happened at the summit in Bucharest. I will not go into who was right or wrong or who had greater national interests to defend, but I have to say that foreign policy is not just a matter of who is right and who is wrong. Foreign policy is about getting solutions which best serve peace and security in one’s own country or region and, in our case, Europe. This is achieved by a mixture of goodwill, compromise, good diplomacy and clear leadership. To prevent a country in southern Europe from becoming a member of NATO when the possibility arose is, to my mind, not a particularly wise move, given the complexity of the situation in the Balkans right now and all the challenges we face: independence in Kosovo, which is a the departure of the government and new elections in Serbia and still-ongoing police reforms in Bosnia. But to block the EU membership of a Balkan country, or even just to think of doing so, is not just unwise but downright dangerous! Only three hours ago I spoke with a colleague here in the European Parliament who said: ‘If they don’t do as we want, we can block them, not just in NATO, but in the EU. The law entitles us to do so’. My reaction is to say: then we must change the law! Surely laws are not there for us to block, disrupt or blackmail one another? Surely they are there so that we can all get along together as best we can in a peaceful and secure Europe? It is my firm opinion that, the sooner all the Balkan countries are in the EU, the sooner we shall have a secure Europe. There is absolutely no doubt that Macedonia belongs to Europe and that Macedonia should be brought into the EU as quickly as possible. I urge you to support the report."@en1
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