The enlargement issue should be returned high on the agenda of the European Union; it should not only be dealt by the Commission, but by the European Council and it should not be regarded simply as a technical issue. This is one of the key messages sent by the leaders of the "Brdo - Brioni Process" at the Summit held today in Budva, attended by the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov.
- It is time for NATO and the European Union to make bold decisions. It is time for the European Union to correct its own misdeed towards Macedonia. Now is the time for the Union to help us fix the deficiencies we have. It is high time for the Union and NATO to fill in the security vacuum in Europe, because if they fail to do so, some other forces and actors will do it since there is no vacuum in the geopolitical space, President Ivanov said.
The regional heads of state expect the political crisis in the Republic of Macedonia to be overcome and intensified reforms to be implemented in certain areas, aimed at unblocking the integration of the country.
Hence, President Ivanov stressed that the region needs immediate EU and NATO integration.
- Long time I have been warning that the status quo in the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Macedonia is discouraging for us and creates frustration in the Macedonian society. It creates instability in the political life and tension in the interethnic relations. Not long ago, unfortunately, these fears came true. The anxiety caused due to the stagnation in the integration resulted in political crisis, which created conditions for security crisis too. And, as the political crisis led to inter-party tensions, so there was a threat the security crisis to lead to interethnic tensions, the Macedonian President told the leaders from the region.
President Ivanov once again stressed that the blockade imposed by our southern neighbor and the lack of firmness of the EU negatively affect the reform pace, the level of political culture among the leaders.
To overcome the situation in which the Republic of Macedonia is, President Ivanov said that parallel processes of integrating and overcoming internal problems and bilateral differences is needed.
Addressing the regional leaders, Ivanov urged the name issue, as a bilateral matter between Macedonia and Greece, to be the final, the 35th Chapter in the negotiations for Macedonia's membership in the European Union, pointing out that if the EU does not help in removing the obstacle for our integration, i.e. by revoking, conditioning, freezing the recommendation, the Union will be directly responsible for the deterioration of the situation in Macedonia, and thus of the region.
- The name issue should be Chapter 35 in accession negotiations for EU membership. What is blocking us in terms of the bilateral matter we have with one EU and NATO member state, what Greece is doing to us constantly have to be overcome, Macedonia must start negotiations, and that should be left final and a way to close the issue is found, President Ivanov said at the closing of the Summit.
Many EU member states see the enlargement as a technical issue, the Macedonian President added. Macedonia's case shows that the enlargement is a political issue, that it does not depend on the European Commission, but it depends on the decision of the European Council to set a date for the start of negotiations. In this context, I proposed my initiative, the Macedonian President said.
President Ivanov said there is an initiative by the presidents of Slovenia and Croatia a letter to be sent to the President of the European Council for greater presence of the Council in our region.
As Croatia, we are committed to the resolution of this bilateral issue; we will urge for its resolution, because it is not only an obstacle for Macedonia's membership in the EU, but apparently in NATO, too. At this point I can only encourage both sides to find a mutually acceptable solution, the Croatian President Grabar-Kitarovic said at the joint press conference, commenting on the initiative of President Ivanov.
As part of his address, President Ivanov urged again that the political issues should be resolved in the frameworks provided by the international law.
- We stand ready for a mutually acceptable solution within the framework provided by the United Nations resolutions, the Interim Accord and the International Court of Justice ruling. In that sense, we urge for immediate admission of the Republic of Macedonia in NATO with the provisional reference, said Ivanov.
Referring to the security situation in the Republic of Macedonia, President Ivanov said that the events in Kumanovo confirmed the poor cooperation between the security services of the countries in the region, making this region a nest of jihadists, a source of foreign terrorist fighters at the battlefields in Middle East. Hence, Ivanov called for greater cooperation and emphasized the need for funding the programs for de-radicalization and counter-radicalization.
- The "Brdo-Brioni Process" fills in the vacuum that appeared recently in the regional cooperation. It enables the declarative form of cooperation to be replaced with specific projects that deliver concrete results, and the formality with informal but frank dialogue on all issues that are important for the countries in the region, President Ivanov said at the Summit, adding that the rhetoric of some leaders should not raise tensions and open issues to be resolved by political dialogue.
In the conclusions of the Summit, the leaders unanimously agreed to cooperate at political and economic level through open and constant dialogue and reaffirmed the commitment for EU membership as a guarantee for peace and stability in the region. Regarding the situation in Macedonia, the leaders welcomed the EU's role in stabilizing the current political situation in the country, the establishment of political dialogue, and stressed that full and transparent investigation into the events in Kumanovo is needed.
It was assessed at the meeting between President Ivanov and President Nikolic that the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Serbia have intensive political dialogue at the highest level.
