Bulgarian MEP: Macedonia Should Make More EU Accession Effort

Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovachev (r.) submitted his progress report on Macedonia's EU accession efforts, to the EP Foreign Affairs Committee. Photo by BGNES

Dr Andrey Kovachev, Chairman of the Bulgarian delegation in the European Peoples' party (EPP), has called for further efforts on behalf of Macedonia on its path to EU membership.

The EP Foreign Affairs Committee has voted on the progress report for 2009 on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Macedonia) on its path towards the EU.

The final text of the document with amendments was also adopted. Overall, the report on the progress of Macedonia calls for Bulgaria's western neighbor to make further efforts on its path to EU accession.

A compromise Amendment put forward by Kovachev emphasized the importance of guaranteeing the rights of individuals whose beliefs about their ethnic origins differ from the officially recognized version.

A second Amendment by the Bulgarian MEP from GERB, supported by Kasulidis Ioannis (Greece), Dan Cristian Preda (Romania), Hans-Gert Poettering (Germany) and Evgeni Kirilov (Group of Socialists and Democrats), urged the Macedonia authorities to take action against hate speech directed at neighboring EU member states by the media, and similar statements in textbooks.

A further amendment stated that joint celebration of common historical events with neighboring countries of the EU contributed to a better understanding of history and good neighborly relations.

The European Parliament will vote on the report during the next plenary session in February in Strasbourg.

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