The Dutch parliament supported the start of the EU accession negotiations with Macedonia but it positioned itself towards Albania with a more critical tone. At the session of the Parliamentary Committee for European Affairs it was stressed that in the past few years, Macedonia has done many positive steps forward.
The Dutch MPs have noticed that Macedonia should pass a law that will guarantee independent investigations and charges for future cases of high corruption.
The Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister, Stef Block, stressed that the failure to pass a law such as this is a consequence predominantly by opposition parties but not the Government, informs BIRN.
At the same time, Block stressed that the opinion of the Dutch government is that no accession negotiations should start with Albania. Similarly to the government, the Dutch MPs stressed two preconditions that Albania has to meet before receiving date for starting the accession negotiations.
Firstly, it is necessary to reform the judiciary structures that are fighting corruption and organized crime and then to provide clear results of the fight against them.
So far, Netherlands did not provide an explanation whether it will veto Albania during the ministerial meeting on the 15th of October or at the Summit of European Leaders that will take place three days later.
