News
9/21/2018 14:45
Today, in the premises of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in co-organization with the Secretariat for
European Affairs and the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of the Government of the
Republic of Macedonia was held a Conference on topic "The Experiences in
the Accession Negotiations -what is right and what is wrong" where Kalinka
Gaber, State Secretary in the Secretariat for European Affairs, Genoveva Ruiz
Calavera, Director for the Western Balkans at the Directorate General for
Accession Negotiations and Neighborhood Policy, had opening addresses, and also
experiences and good practices were exchanged by Bojan Maricic, chief technical
negotiator, Andrej Engelman, former member of the negotiating team of the
Republic of Slovenia, Vladimir Ateljevic, member of the negotiating team for
Chapters 30 and 31 from the Republic of Serbia and Dragan Markovic, adviser to
the chief negotiator of Montenegro.
"Having in mind that the
Republic of Macedonia is entering the final phase of the European integration
process, i.e. is starting with preparations for accession negotiations, the
moment of holding this Conference could not be better given the fact that we
have recently drawn out the contours of the negotiating structure, but also
that these days we are intensively preparing ourselves for the first
explanatory screening for Chapter 23 to be held next week in Brussels - stated
State Secretary Gaber in the introduction speech before the participants.
After the adoption of the
conclusions of the June EU Council, endorsed by the European Council, which
sets a clear opportunity for the start of accession negotiations in June 2019,
the Republic of Macedonia enters the next phase of our relations with the
European Union, which is the screening process that at the same time is a
logical consequence of all the events of the past year and a half when the
Government showed concrete results in the implementation of reforms and the
closure of open internal issues both internally and with the neighbours.
In this
context, the Government will remain focused on the urgent reform priorities
translated into Plan18, demonstrating that there is a political will and
administrative capacity to maintain the reform momentum and to convince EU
member states, especially those holding certain reserves, that in June 2019 we
deserve a date for start of the accession negotiations.
"The
European Integration is a strategic goal of the country since its
independence. It is a goal that is unconditionally supported by all
political parties, all social actors and, most importantly, by the citizens of
Macedonia - in a word, the EU membership is the strongest cohesive factor and
main driving force that unites us on all grounds, which for a multi-ethnic and
multi-confessional a country with a specific geographical location is more than
a political floss"Gaber said.
The European integration is
not a magic stick. They are not our panacea. We are absolutely aware that we
must continue to work on the state of our democracy and the rule of law, on the
fight against corruption, but also economic and social welfare. But the
accession negotiations give us meaning and purpose. That's why we need them -
because in this way the reforms will be channelled through a clear and
precisely defined process of targets, control and delivery. The negotiations
will be a kind of recognition of our maturity - both for the internal
achievements of the reform agenda, as well as for the significant achievements
of our foreign policy, especially in the area of good neighbourly relations.