Chairwoman: Doris PACK (EPP)

Members: Pavlos SARLIS (EPP)

Anna KARAMANOU (PSE)

Olivier DUPUIS (ARE)

Third official Interparliamentary Meeting European Parliament - Assembly of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Skopje-Ohrid, June 2-4, 1998

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There are close contacts between the two parliamentary delegations, during the meeting there was a frank exchange of diverse opinions.

The European Parliament continues to follow with great interest and concern the events in FYROM and in the region and is willing to further develop friendly relations with its partner parliament.

Subjects discussed at this meeting were:

political situation in FYROM and the forthcoming parliamentary elections in particular which we are confident will meet with European democratic standards. A new electoral law has just been adopted. In this respect, we wish to have precise information on the decision of the court on the non-registration of the newly established DPA party.

(We don't want to support any particular political group but are in favour of a further strengthening of democracy and constructive dialogue between the different political forces.)

The greatest concern, however, in the evolution of the political and social life of this country is the position of the Albanian population, which represents almost one quarter of the whole population of FYROM.

We note that the cultural rights of smaller minorities have seriously been taken into consideration.

We acknowledge the difficult experience during the Yugoslav era and great efforts that have been made to transform the political and economic structures into a modern, democratic society with a free market economy and equal opportunities for ALL citizens.

The EP-Delegation is convinced that further steps have to be taken without any delay to guarantee sufficient fundamental rights of the ethnic Albanians in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It is important that FYROM which wishes to come closer to the European Union fully implements the commitments it has made in the field of higher education in Albanian language.

I should like to stress that it is enriching for a country to be bilingual or multilingual as we can see in many European Union countries.

We very much welcome the recommendations of the parliamentary inquiry committee to the unfortunate events in Tetovo and Gostivar last summer to investigate possibilities of recruiting more people belonging to ethnic minority groups to the judiciary, the police and armed forces.

It is fundamental for the future of your country that this important part of the population feels that their contribution to the construction of a common future is needed and welcomed. To meet this end, we would very much appreciate if the politicians we have had discussions with, would seriously investigate the possibilities to grant amnesty to the two mayors concerned.

This would prevent an unneccessary tension and bitterness of the Macedonian Albanians before the upcoming elections.

The international relations of FYROM were also subject of discussion and the EP delegation notes with satisfaction that the relations with Greece are developping in a pragmatic manner and that FYROM is willing to cooperate with all its neighbours.

The EP delegation warmly supports the extension of the mandate of UNPREDEP beyond August 1998, because its presence contributes to maintaining the fragile regional stability.

The delegation shares the view of the Council of the European Union that the relations between FYROM and the European Union can be upgraded in the future but at the same time it stresses the importance of fully using the existing instruments such as the Cooperation Agreement, which entered into force on January 1st 1998, before negociations for association with the European Union can commence. The current agreement covers such important fields of cooperation as political dialogue, trade, and assistance to a large number of sectoral reforms through the PHARE programme. In this sphere, the delegation would welcome a faster and more efficient implementation of this programmes and further progress in privatisation and promotion of foreign investment.

The delegation welcomes the appointment of the resident envoy of the European Commission in Skopje, Mr PINTO TEIXEIRA, and looks forward to the establishment of a fully fledged Commission Delegation in 1999, to consolidate the presence of the European Union in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

(- Reference to the common European past of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the member states of the European Union and our common European future.)