With growing concern, Party of European Socialists (PES) follows the latest developments in Macedonia, said a member of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament and Vice-President of the Joint Parliamentary Committee EU-Macedonia, MEP from Bulgaria, Sergei Stanishev, who is also president of the Party of European Socialists.
– Increasing confrontation threatens democratic processes and trust in the institutions. Several times, European Commission and OSCE warned against threats to voters and the lack of independence of the judiciary, which is often politicized. In a healthy democratic environment, the opposition should be able to work in complete freedom. Charges have clear political motive – stated Stanishev for META.
Stanishev is not personally familiar with recordings of the wiretapping, but he stressed that it is unacceptable.
– I am not personally familiar with the recordings that were published, but the possibility that thousands of people were tapped is shocking and unacceptable. Furthermore, media freedom is fundamental to a functioning democracy and it is very strange that Zaev’s statements had such small media coverage. Media can agree or disagree with some information, but their main responsibility is to inform people and to have a guaranteed freedom to do so – said Stanishev.
Stanishev announced mission of European Socialists in Skopje for the coming weeks to learn about the situation closely and get a clear picture of the events.