In his speech he pointed out that from a front-runner in EU integration among applicant countries, Macedonia has fallen in a continuous deep political crisis during Gruevski’s ruling. In his words, the functioning of state institutions raises serious concerns, and the government fails to demonstrate commitment to the fundamental democratic values and standards enshrined in the EU enlargement process.

Stanishev also expressed disappointment that the European institutions have long underestimated the situation in the country and have overlooked the development of an authoritarian regime in a candidate country. In his view, the present government uses all state institutions and services to its advantage, supresses business, media and the judiciary. ‘The EU cannot solve all internal problems of the country, but bears the responsibility to use all means and tools at its disposal to support Macedonian citizens in their strive for justice and democracy’, the socialist MEP said.

The socialist leader reminded that he had attended the civil rally in Skopje last Sunday not to teach or preach but to listen to the voices of the people. He was glad to see people of different political views and ethnic origin, civil society representatives and NGOs standing up together for their rights and freedoms and for democracy in the country. Stanishev concluded by quoting a student from the rally saying: ‘It’s not about who is in power and who is in opposition, but about the very functioning of our state’.

Stanishev expressed deep concerns of the socialist family regarding the deteriorating political situation in the country. He pointed out that until the government takes the initiative to restore the political dialogue, the mediation of European institutions will not solve the internal issue of Macedonia.

“It is no longer about the dialogue between the parties, it is about upholding the basic democratic standards and principles, which are an integral part of the negotiation process. The attacks against the opposition leader only raise the question whether we can really trust the judicial system, which is already criticized for selective administration of justice under the influence of the ruling party” added the MEP.

“Otherwise, the prospects of starting negotiations for Macedonia’s membership in the EU will recede even more” Stanishev said in his conclusion, who is also deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Cooperation Committee EU-Macedonia

Socialists believe that the start of accession negotiations can have a positive impact on the country and give an impetus for progress in problematic areas, including unsolved bilateral issues. A decision to set a date for the negotiations to begin, however, would not be a ‘gift’, but will come on the basis of achieved results under clear criteria, Stanishev said.

The report adopted acknowledges the progress achieved so far by Macedonia and yet again shares the Commission’s recommendation to start accession negotiations with the EU, which have been stalled for the past 9 years due to the unresolved name dispute with Greece as well as lack of progress in the field of good neighbourly relations. However, MEPs also express serious concern over the ongoing political polarisation in the country, the judiciary, freedom of speech and media, condemn all forms of extreme nationalism which deepens the lines of division in the society, and so on.

According to Stanishev, despite ongoing negotiations for the signature of a Treaty on good neighbourliness with Bulgaria and the high-level contacts and visits, there is no real political will on the side of the Macedonian government for practical steps for joint celebrations of prominent historical events and characters, objective interpretation of history, etc. The amendments to the draft text proposed by Stanishev put an emphasis on the responsibility of the government to ensure the dialogue with opposition and civil society, especially when adopting new legislation and constitutional changes.

Commenting on the recent political scandal in Macedonia, Sergei Stanishev said: ‘The revelations of the opposition leader Zoran Zaev, SDSM President, for mass phone tapping, pressure exerted on media, control over the judiciary and others question not only the progress of Macedonia towards EU accession but also fundamental democratic principles and values. Carrying out an impartial, independent and objective investigation of all allegations will be a serious test not only for the judiciary but also for the freedom of media in the country. The deepening political gap between government and opposition does not allow for a constructive political dialogue to take place, and its place is in Parliament. The absence of the opposition there undermines the legitimacy of the pursued policies and the adopted legislation. Both sides have their responsibility before all Macedonian citizens for finding a way out of this situation in the name of the common goal – EU membership, economic and social prosperity.

The report is voted just a day before an official PES delegation led by Sergei Stanishev arrives in Skopje to get first-hand impressions and assessment of the situation with the mass phone tapping scandal.

In his speech Sergei Stanishev who is Vice-President of the JPC on the EP side said that good neighbourly relations between Bulgaria and Macedonia are a matter of political will of both sides, and reminded: ‘Bulgaria was the first to recognise the statehood of Macedonia and we have always supported its EU and NATO membership. As Prime Minister at the time I supported Macedonia’s NATO membership during the Summit in Bucharest in 2008. We are all one family in the Balkans but efforts should be made by all sides’.

During a bilateral meeting with Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister Fatmir Beshimi Stanishev called for the signing of a Treaty between the two countries on cooperation and good neighbourliness without further delay. ‘We must show political will instead of seeking excuses as finding reasons to postpone it will always be easy. We see media campaigns against our country. We need clear treaty-based relations so that we can settle the issues between us in a democratic manner’.

There were early parliamentary elections in our western neighbour country on 27 April. The main opposition party SDSM decided not to participate in the new parliament as they suspected election results manipulations. For the same reason the EU-FYROM JPC lacks the legitimacy to take decisions as its composition is still not completed and does not represent the interests of all Macedonian citizens.

Speaking on the internal political situation in Macedonia, Stanishev called the ruling majority to be more active in the negotiations with the opposition. ‘As far as we know, the opposition has 5 key demands: interim government to be formed, changes to the Election code, clear distinction between government and party business, no pressure on media and census to be conducted in order to eliminate the ‘dead souls’ from the electoral lists. You may not like all of them but the responsible position of a government would be to start negotiations and show good will for cooperation. This is in the interest of all citizens. The idea to hold partial elections only for the vacant places in the Parliament would only deepen the political crisis. I cannot judge whether the decision of the opposition to boycott the Parliament is right or not, we also had a similar situation in Bulgaria while we were in government, but it never occurred to me to deprive the opposition from its mandates’.

Stanishev also commented on the European Commission’s progress report and the OSCE report on the elections and said that there are positive results but they also give numerous recommendations for more media freedom and fair election process. Reacting on this, the Macedonian members of the JPC said that they have issued a declaration calling on the opposition to return to the parliament. In turn, Stanishev replied: ‘Brothers, it won’t work only with declarations. You need to give a clear signal that you are ready to negotiate so that the opposition has a reason to engage’.