Members of the Hungarian Communion of Friends in Britain have observed with great satisfaction that the recent official visit to London by Mr Nikola Gruevski Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia provided Her Majesty’s government with an opportunity to reitarete the strong British support for Macedonia’s EU and NATO ambitions. Hungarians living in the United Kingdom are committed to a stable, prosperous and peaceful Europe, and we are convinced that the best institutional structures to secure these goals are those offered by NATO and EU membership. We strongly believe that the people and the government of the Republic of Macedonia share our goals and are committed to the Euro-Atlantic values.
Macedonia was the only republic of the former Yugoslavia which proclaimed its independence peacefully. It is a unique example in the Balkans of a country that from day one of its independence has invested an enormous political and financial capital in creating an unprecedented model of an inclusive multiethnic society, where minorities have political, linguistic and cultural rights at all levels of society.
Macedonia was always a committed supporter of EU and NATO policies in Southeast Europe. Macedonia was of central importance to the 1999 intervention of NATO in Kosovo and it had received up to half a million Kosovar refugees irrespective of this presenting an enormous burden potentially damaging the country’s stability. To this day Macedonia serves as a logistical back-up to the international troops stationed in Kosovo.
Macedonia is the forth largest contributor per capita in the ISAF NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. Macedonia has previously contributed troops to the NATO and EU led missions in Iraq and Bosnia as well.
Having considered these facts, we, at the Hungarian Communion of Friends in Britain support Macedonia’s EU and NATO membership, and we hope that Her Majesty’s government will be able to facilitate this process.
