We call on the political leaders in the country and the relevant authorities to take decisive steps to solve the current situation, and respect the Przhino Agreement, said Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson for the European Commission in response to the question, how will Macedonia continue to receive financial aid for the refugee crisis if the new government is not recognised by the international community.
“It is absolutely clear that some sort of action needs to be taken. We believe that it should be done. We are ready to assist, but above all, the responsibility lies with the political leaders of the country”, said Kocijancic.
When asked if elections are held in the country, which is legal, but politically unacceptable for the EU, does that mean that the EU support the postponement of elections for a certain amount of time when all parties are ready to participate, Kocijnacic replied that the Przhino Agreement should provide all conditions necessary for credible elections.
“The Przhino Agreement was formed to create a path to credible elections. Part of the Agreement was that certain steps were to be taken before elections could be held. This did not happen. Currently, the way the situation is, we do not see that there are conditions for credible elections”, said the spokesperson for the EC, Maja Kocijancic.
However, Kocijancic avoided giving a direct answer to recent remarks that the Przhino Agreement is dead. She recalled last week’s statement from Brussels stating that the prolonged political crisis has turned Macedonia away from its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
“The Commission noticed that several parties did not submit their candidate lists to the State Election Commission on time because we do not see that there are minimum conditions for credible elections on June 5, 2016, that can be recognized by the international community”, said EC spokesperson, adding that repeatedly they have emphasized the necessity and importance of cleaning the electoral roll, providing balanced media reporting and an investigation into reports of intimidation against voters.
