European Parliament discusses Macedonian media freedom

This week's meeting of deputies from the European Parliament and their Macedonian counterparts was dominated by the state of freedom of expression in Macedonia. The sensitive discussions follow the European Commission's strong criticism of media freedom in the country in its latest progress report published in November. The meetings of the joint parliamentary committee, which reviews Macedonia's progress towards EU accession twice a year, are meant to improve co-operation between the two sides. The country has been a candidate since 2005 but has still not started accession talks due to an ongoing name dispute with Greece.

The committee meetings are usually dedicated to discussions about Macedonia's reform efforts. This time, however, European deputies were more interested in an incident that had taken place in Macedonia the week before. MEPs asked for an explanation of the police raid of A1 TV station in the country's capital Skopje. The broadcaster is known to be critical of the government. There were reports that the freedom of movement of journalists working at the station was restricted and that violence was used. Greek deputy Anni Podimata held that the right to criticise the government was legitimate and had to be respected. She recalled that Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski had qualified A1 and other media as "megaphones of the opposition" in October. She also said a TV presenter in Kanal 5 TV had publicly called for the physical elimination of people he considered "traitors" to the nation. Ms Podimata said the event was condemned by the International Federation of Journalists and wanted to know what the government was doing to address the problem.Vasko Naumovski, vice-president of the Macedonian government, was present at the session and gave his version of events. He said nobody was controlling A1 and that the targets of the raid conducted were companies with addresses in the same building. The companies were suspected of tax evasion and money laundering, he explained.

"The assistance of the police was given in response to a request by the financial police," said Mr Naumovski, adding that the police would have acted in the same way if the BBC or CNN had been in the same building. Representatives of the Macedonian opposition who were present at the commmittee did not agree with this explanation, contending that the broadcaster was also a target.Macedonian deputy Vlatko Gjorcev, a member of the governing conservative VMRO-DPMNE, tried to divert the focus of the discussion. He repeated insults to the EU ambassador to Macedonia, Erwan Fouere. In an opinion piece that had appeared in a Macedonian newspaper a few weeks earlier, Mr Gjorcev had attacked Mr Fouere. "Unfortunately, Fouere is not a promoter of European values but an ordinary ideological party megaphone ... He is not a totem nor protected deity but an ordinary bureaucrat. Our people are already fed up with him," Mr Gjorcev had written. During the committee session, Mr Gjorcev accused Mr Fouere of not being diplomatic and said that he was too involved in political life, sided with the opposition and was too present in the media. The co-president of the committee, German liberal MEP Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, closed the session saying he felt it his duty to defend the ambassador who speaks on behalf of the EU. Mr Chatzimarkakis strongly condemned Mr Gjorcev's words.

"This behaviour is contrary to the Vienna Convention for diplomats," said Mr Chatzimarkakis. "The country needs to protect the dignity and personality of diplomats. There's a big difference between attacking diplomats, especially diplomats who are trying to put your country on the path of integration. Instead of thanking them you attack them. I want to strongly condemn this behaviour."

Mr Chatzimarkakis added that the Macedonian prime minister had defended his party member Mr Gjorcev when he was confronted about the derogatory remarks about Mr Fouere. Aleksandar Spasenovski, Macedonian co-president of the committee, tried to defend his colleague on behalf of his party VMRO-DPMNE, saying that Mr Fouere had a positive role in Macedonia. Yesterday evening, however, the president of the Macedonian Parliament Trajko Veljanovski said he was convinced Mr Gjorcev acted to protect the interests of the Republic of Macedonia.

News source: waz.euobserver.com link: article

EPP president criticises commission's report on Albania

The European Commission came under fire on Tuesday (16 November) over its latest progress report on Albania during a meeting hosted by the European People's Party (EPP).

Joseph Daul, president of the EPP, the biggest political group in the European Parliament, said he had not seen the problems referred to in the commission's report on his own visit to Albania. The commission published its opinion on Albania's submission to become an official candidate for EU membership on 9 November. The Brussels-based EU executive refrained from recommending Albania's candidacy and instead asked the country to continue reform efforts that could eventually lead to candidate status.

For now, the commission considers Albania to fall short of the political criteria needed to begin membership talks. The greatest problem identified by experts was the lack of dialogue between the government and opposition in Tirana. The country has been in a political crisis since the summer of 2009 when, following general elections, Prime Minister Sali Berisha's conservative party held onto power and the socialist opposition started boycotting parliamentary work.

Mr Daul announced that he would convey his criticism of the report to commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. When challenged by a journalist, who noted that Mr Daul had only visited Albania once, the EPP president replied that he had been briefed by German MEP Doris Pack who knows Albania very well. The remarks were made at a high-level conference on "Balkans in the heart of Europe," to which the EPP had invited the leaders of conservative governments in the region. Mr Daul's attack on the Albanian report came as a surprise but the EPP, which is always ready to help sister parties and diplomats, said the president was eager to silence Mr Berisha's critics after the commission's negative report.

Mr Daul was also blasted by the Albanian Socialist Party opposition. Together with Martin Schultz, head of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European Parliament, he started an initiative to prod the two Albanian rivals into a compromise earlier this year, but the effort failed.

News source: waz.euobserver.com link: article

Travelling without borders: Commission proposes stronger monitoring of respect of Schengen rules

In the EU, citizens can travel without border controls within the Schengen area. But obstacles to the free movement, such as maintenance of obstacles to fluid traffic flow at road crossing-points at internal borders, remain because Schengen rules are not always correctly applied by the Member States. That is why the Commission wants to verify more closely the respect of the Schengen rules. A new proposal adopted today by the Commission seeks to strengthen the mechanism for evaluating the correct application of the Schengen rules in the Member States. It will allow the Commission to better verify the relevant legislation on the abolition of controls at internal borders and to do more effective checks within national territory.

Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, responsible for Home Affairs, highlighted that: "The Schengen area gives people the possibility to travel without border controls. But in order for the system to work, efficient application of all Schengen provisions and a high degree of mutual trust among the actors are essential. Only if the Schengen rules and regulations are applied effectively, consistently and in a transparent manner by the Member States can European citizens fully benefit from the free movement."

A specific evaluation mechanism is necessary to ensure both mutual trust between Member States and the capacity to effectively and efficiently apply all Schengen provisions. The evaluation mechanism sets up transparent, efficient and clear rules on the method to be applied for the evaluations. In particular, the evaluation should pay attention to the respect of fundamental rights when applying the Schengen acquis. The proposal covers all parts of the Schengen cooperation, in particular external borders, visa policy, police cooperation and the Schengen Information System.

The new mechanism enhances the current system of periodic on-the-spot inspections in the Member States and introduces unannounced visits to ensure that Schengen rules are applied correctly at all times. The proposal introduces multiannual evaluation programmes for the on-site visits and provides clear rules for the follow-up to the findings of the evaluations.

The revised mechanism reflects the changes in the legal situation after the integration of the Schengen rules into the framework of the EU and the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. The European Parliament and the Council will decide together on this proposal.

News source: EU Press Room link: article