Negotiations that lasted more than 12 hours in Brussels between the leaders of VMRO-DPMNE, SDSM, DPA and DUI, Nikola Gruevski, Zoran Zaev, Ali Ahmeti and Menduh Thaci, were unsuccessful.
SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE accused each other of breaking the negotiations.
Here are the statements of the concerned parties at one place:
Nikola Gruevski:
Zaev didn’t come to reach an agreement. He came not to do so. The man is afraid of elections. He knows that he will experience a fiasco and the worst defeat of SDSM in its history at the next elections. He doesn’t want to appear on elections and to cause as much damage to the country as he can – to stop the opening of new jobs, believing that in such a chaos that he would create, he and SDSM could get some political points. He does not want an agreement or elections, he just wants to cause economic damage of Macedonia. The briefings they played, the interviews he gave indicated that he would go to such a variant to come to an agreement. Because if there is an agreement, he would have to appear at elections, before the people. If these speculations were accurate, including the one about a technical government, we would have reached an agreement tonight. So why don’t we have an agreement? Because all the speculation that you receive from SDSM were incorrect.
Zoran Zaev:
I hope that today it has become a little more clear to our European friends who has made enormous efforts and that they understood how we can get back on track. To prepare the elections in order to be regular and fair and simultaneously to return institutions to normal, because that’s the only way we have a chance to progress towards EU and NATO. It is not possible with Gruevski. It is not acceptable for the man who is in the center of the problem to be part of the solution to the problem. Elections with Gruevski cannot be fair. We give chance the talks to continue. It was announced by Commissioner Hahn as well. In parallel there will be other activities to prove to everyone that our demands are fair. They are not the vanity of the opposition. Those are warranties to create conditions for fair elections in Macedonia and to restore correctness in the society.
SDSM:
The requirement for the essential question about opening negotiations and organizing government that won’t be led by Nikola Gruevski is not met. Unreasonable and illogical is the creator of the political crisis, Nikola Gruevski, to continue leading the Government that is to organize and conduct early parliamentary elections. Gruevski was ready to give everything and do everything, just to keep his position. President Zaev and the delegation of SDSM remained consistent to the principled position which is also the position of the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia. There cannot be haggling with freedom and democratic values which the citizens of Macedonia deserve, as well as their fellow citizens of Europe. Nikola Gruevski must resign.
Johannes Hahn:
The talks were open and detailed, but did not lead to a final agreement. The European Union encourages all parties – in the interest of their country and its citizens – to reach a lasting political compromise and come up with concrete proposals for such a goal based on the agreement reached on 2nd of June in Skopje without delay. Reform commitments contained therein, to which all party leaders committed, must be implemented as a matter of great urgency. It is necessary for the country to advance in its Euro-Atlantic path. The European Commission will now review how it could best contribute to the political process in the country and remains ready to assist the discussions.
Hahn on Twitter:
1. I am disappointed by the lack of a sense of responsibility and lack of leadership.
2. Citizens deserve better: democracy, the rule of law, and a European future.
