NULAND OPTIMISTIC ON MACEDONIAN CRISIS TALKS

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12.07.2016

11.07.2016
BalkanInsight

During her visit to Macedonia, and after meeting the leaders of the four main political parties, US Assistant Secretary of State Nuland, told media that a breakthrough in the stalled crisis talks could be just around the corner.

“I must say that I leave Skopje encouraged by what I’ve heard and that in coming days we hope the [political parties] negotiating teams can join around the ideas that are on the table and chart a course toward elections,” Nuland said.

The four main parties have yet to agree on how to ensure balanced reporting in the media, clean up the electoral roll and prevent political influence on voters before the country heads into early elections.

They must also agree on the provisional government which, according to the now moribund EU-brokered crisis deal reached last summer, is expected to prepare the country for the elections.

As expected, Nuland strongly backed the work of Macedonia’s Special Prosecution, SJO, which was established last autumn as part of last year’s EU-brokered political crisis deal to investigate high-level corruption, mostly involving senior state officials.

The SJO’s work “is vitally important to bringing true rule of law, accountability and clean justice system to this country, something that is absolutely essential if this country is to achieve its Euro-Atlantic Objectives,” Nuland said.

Asked whether the issue of formation a special court department to process SJO cases was on the table, Nuland said that “there are ideas out there”, all intended to make Macedonia's justice system accountable, clean and effective.

Referring to reports of possible US sanctions against Macedonian leaders for not implementing last-year’s crisis agreement, Nuland expressed the hope that a rapid solution to the crisis would render such an eventuality needless.

The main ruling VMRO DPMNE party in a statement said that its leader, Nikola Gruevski, sought guarantees that the opposition Social Democrats would participate at the next elections once the election date is agreed.

The Social Democrats said that their head, Zoran Zaev, had raised the possibility of holding snap polls as soon as this November, but only if key reforms envisaged in the crisis agreement are fully implemented.

During her stay in Skopje, Nuland did not meet President Gjorge Ivanov or the provisional Prime Minister, Emil Dimitriev.

The crisis in Macedonia escalated in February 2015, when the opposition started releasing batches of covertly recorded tapes, which it said showed that the VMRO DPMNE-led government was behind the illegal surveillance of some 20,000 people, including ministers. They said the tapes proved many criminal allegations against government members.

Gruevski, who was Prime Minister from 2006 until he resigned earlier this year under the EU-brokered deal, has said the tapes were “fabricated” by unnamed foreign intelligence services and given to the opposition in order to destabilise the country.

Since the crisis agreement was signed last summer, Macedonia has postponed early elections twice due to unfulfilled reforms. The ruling majority in parliament has also since dismissed the opposition ministers who joined the government to ensure fair polls.