Brussels (25 October) -
Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan
Füle met with Prime Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia Nikola Gruevski accompanied by Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki
in Brussels today.
The meeting follows the recent
publication of the Progress report on the country and the Commission's
fifth recommendation to the Council to open accession negotiations.
Discussions focused on recent political developments and the reform
priorities that the Commission has highlighted in this year´s Progress
report and ways how to address the shortcomings highlighted there.
Commissioner Füle expressed
concern about the increasing polarisation among political parties in the
country. He reiterated his call for constructive inclusive dialogue and
responsible politics in the national interest.
In the area of rule of law he
stressed the need to improve the predictability, equality and
transparency of decision-making in order to have public trust and to
step up the fight against corruption and organised crime.
The Commissioner raised also the
recent court verdicts against an investigative journalist and others,
and said: "We will continue to follow the case of Mr Kezarovski closely.
We will carefully study the judgment when available and we expect the
outcome of this case to take full account of the fundamental principles
of fairness, proportionality and public interest."
As for freedom of expression he
underlined that more needs to be done to rebuild trust between the
government and the media community, following the events of 24 December,
and after the consultations on the media laws this summer and to
improve the overall media culture. The new defamation legislation must
be implemented in practice and any change of relevant legislation must
result, de facto, in the establishment of a better framework for freedom
of expression.
Commissioner Füle and Prime
Minister Gruevski also discussed the state of play of the country's
bilateral relations with two EU Member States.
