The Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from the US State Department, Victoria Nuland stated that she feels confident that in the next few days the parties will come to an agreement over disputed issues.
“I have met with the four political leaders, and I have to say I am leaving Skopje feeling confident and encouraged that in the next few days the negotiating teams will come to an agreement and are currently at the negotiating table with their ideas, which will lead to elections. This will require political will from all sides. I felt that there is will”, said Nuland.
The second goal, as she said, was to support the strengthening of justice and rule of law in Macedonia.
“Today, I talked with civil activists and journalists and encouraged them to continue with the work they are doing. This morning as well, I had the opportunity to meet with Ms Janeva and her team. Her work is vital to the rule of law, accountability and a clean legal system for the country, something which is essential if Macedonia wants to achieve its Euro-Atlantic aspirations”, said Nuland, adding that the United States have supported Macedonia’s efforts to join the EU and NATO for a long time.
In terms of whether received she received any assurances from political leaders to implement the agreement, Nuland said she felt assured and encouraged that the political parties want to reach an agreement in the coming days and that there have been good ideas at the negotiating table.
Concerning the possibility of establishing a special court to process the cases which are led by the Special Public Prosecutor, Nuland said that she supports the SPO’s work and that more options were being considered.
“As for the other support structures, there have been many ideas, but I think what is most important, is for the system to be clean, responsible and efficient. It is a process. Obviously, we would like it to run faster, but, as I said before I even arrived, the US and the EU already have been working very hard to bring Macedonia on the road to elections, and to implement the Pržino Agreement”, Nuland said.
When asked by the media whether the US plans any disciplinary measures, given that last year she left Macedonia feeling encouraged, and the Agreement was not implemented, Nuland did not rule out this possibility directly.
“I hope the situation will be resolved and that we will not have to go in that direction”, said Nuland.
