Establishing an accession dialogue at a high level that will be held twice a year in order to speed up the implementation of the required reforms was proposed in Ohrid on Saturday by the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, who reiterated together with Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule that there should not be any dilemmas concerning Macedonia’s accession to the EU.  

“As a sign of the continuous support from the EC, the Prime Minister and I agreed upon two concrete steps: establishing an accession dialogue at a high level, which would be held twice a year in order to speed up the implementation of the required reforms, and an economic political conference that would analyze the strategic challenges. It is important for your country to stay the reform course. It is absolutely important for Skopje to be an active part of this dynamics. The country has to retain the reform process,” Barroso said and added that, “unless this happens, there is a rising risk for the country to lag behind in the accession process.”

Barroso’s words were confirmed by Prime Minister Gruevski who added that this proposal was meant to help Brussels watch Macedonia’s reform steps.

“President Barroso, based on many previous initiatives, proposed establishment of an accession dialogue between the Republic of Macedonia and the EC at the highest level, which would be held twice a year in Skopje or in Brussels. This would give us a sustainable mechanism for sharing views and regular monitoring of the political criteria and the key reform steps noted in the report on Macedonia’s progress last year,” Prime Minister Gruevski said.

The proposal of the EC, diplomats from Brussels informed, was agreed upon during Gruevski’s visit to Brussels on 24 March when he met with Commissioner Fule and is a result of the delayed Macedonian reform, as confirmed by Barroso too.

“The effort should continue in important areas, such as the political dialogue, judiciary, administration, fighting corruption and freedom of expression. The way events have unfolded thus far shows that these challenges are still present. The reform progress and ensuring functional democratic institutions depend on the leaders in the government and the opposition,” Barroso said.

Therefore, the key recommendation from this visit is the necessity of a political dialogue and consensus on the key reforms. These reforms should not be a subject of interparty rows. As Brussels has long warned, efficient key reforms are only those backed by the entire political spectrum of the country.

“There has to be a consensus over the country’s strategic interests. We need functional institutions and a true atmosphere of compromise,” Barroso said.

A source from the European Commission that followed Barroso’s and Fule’s visit said that a culture of compromise between the political forces whereby all would back the country’s accession agenda should be created.

“There has to be a fundamental agreement,” the source says, and adds that the EC President expects his message to be understood so that the politicians in the country, the government and the opposition, would move ahead. Barroso welcomed in Ohrid President Gjorge Ivanov’s efforts. His message was that not only his efforts should continue but should also produce results.

According to another high-ranking European diplomat, the idea behind this proposal may be compared with the benchmarks that Commissioner Olli Rehn brought two years ago and that led to the EC recommendation for opening membership negotiations.

“Brussels is concerned because of the vacuum situation in the country resulting from the name issue that has a discouraging effect on the reforms.  It is for this reason that this proposal was put forward that should help the country stay the reform course,” the diplomat told Dnevnik.

The political dialogue is indispensable to solve the name issue too.

“My friendly advice is: solve the name issue now,” Barroso said adding that the energy the country spends on this dispute could be spent on its growth instead.

As regards the early elections, he reiterated that they have to be fair and democratic. In this way, a diplomat from Brussels explained, “the country would prove its maturity and confirm that in 2009 it deserved the recommendation from Brussels for opening accession talks.”

Barroso also met the leaders of BDI and SDSM, Ali Ahmeti and Branko Crvenkovski, to whom he conveyed the same messages.