Government Should not Deny Responsibility for an Eventual Negative Progress Report

On the eve of the publication of the 2008 Progress Report for the Republic of Macedonia, prepared by the European Commission, and concerned by recent statements by Government representatives speculating on possible causes for the likely negative general tone of the Report, a group of 30 civic organizations asked the Government to stop its public opinion spin efforts and to not avoid its responsiblity if the Progress Report proves to be negative. `We, as citizens of Macedonia, are concerned about the European future of the country, especially following the recent statements given by Government representatives, upon their return from Brussels, initiating a public campaign aimed to divert the responsibility for the likely failure to get the recommendation to start accession negotiations from the Government`, say the representatives of teh civic organizations. `We would like to remind the Government that over 85 percent of Macedonian citizens want Macedonia into the EU and to emphasize that the Government doesn’t have the mandate to give up on the European agenda, even temporarily`, said Biljana Bejkova from the NGO Infocentre. Lidija Dimova from the Macedonian Centre for European Education explained that the EU accession process is led exclusively by the Government, and the Government will be solely responsible for any failure, or success for that matter, of the process. The Government is responsible to meet all conditions and reach all benchmarks, and the failure to meet those benchmarks is the probable cause for the likely fact that the Progress Report will not list a recommendation to start the negotiations. In communication with the European Commission, the Government prepared an action plan in March of this year, defining the measures and activities to reach those benchmarks. However, soon after that the Parliament called for early elections that have totally stopped the implementation of the action plan. The organizations demanded from the Government to stop manipulating the public opinion in terms of the reasons for the failure to get the recommendation to start negotiations and to not try avoid its responsibility for the eventual negative report come November. The full text of the statement is attached to this message.

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Statement 28.00 KB