Balkans leaders discuss common market after EU snub

Yahoo – AFP, November 10, 2019

The three Balkans leaders want to ease trade and travel between their
countries, and others in the region (AFP Photo/Robert ATANASOVSKI)

Ohrid (Republic of North Macedonia) (AFP) - Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia discussed setting up a common market at a summit Sunday, weeks after the European Union snubbed bids by Skopje and Tirana to open membership talks.

The leaders of the three countries met at Lake Ohrid, in North Macedonia, after the EU last month refused to start membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, his North Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who launched the common market initiative in October, attended Sunday's meeting.

"We should not be afraid of our own shadow and to do something for ourselves," Vucic told reporters.

"We did not invent anything better for the past 30 years in the Balkans."

"We all want to be part of EU," but "it depends on them," he added. Serbia opened membership talks with the bloc in 2014.

This new initiative is aimed at establishing the free movement of goods and people by 2021 in the divided region.

Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo have also been invited to take part in the project.

But while Bosnia and Montenegro sent representatives to Sunday's meeting, Kosovo was absent.

"The vision of Kosovo is its accession to EU and NATO" which cannot be replaced by "any other regional initiative", Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said in a message posted on social media.

"This initiative makes no sense as long as Serbia and Bosnia do not recognise Kosovo independence."

Serbia's former ethnic Albanian-majority province proclaimed independence in 2008, but Belgrade has still not recognised it. Nor does Bosnia, due to the opposition of Bosnian Serbs.

The issue remains extremely sensitive in the Balkans region, which was torn apart in a series of wars in the 1990s that accompanied the collapse of Yugoslavia.

Rama voiced regret over Pristina's stance over the initiative.

"It is also in the interest of Kosovo, its citizens and market that the border between Kosovo and Serbia be abolished" despite the unresolved dispute between the two countries, he said.

The three leaders present agreed on introducing a common work permit and allowing travel between the three countries with an ID card only.

They also discussed setting up a "mini Schengen" visa-free zone to facilitate free movement of foreign visitors within the three countries.

And they agreed to ease customs procedures and border controls to accelerate the passage of trucks.

Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia have a combined population of nearly 20 million people.

France led last month's opposition to the EU membership talks for Albania and North Macedonia, although Denmark and the Netherlands also expressed reservations.

Albania will host the next meeting of the Balkans initiative on December 21.

N.Macedonia PM calls for snap election after EU snub

Yahoo – AFP, Robert Atanasovski with Sally Mairs in Belgrade, October 19, 2019

The name change was to unblock EU talks, but it didn't, courtesy of France
(AFP Photo/Robert ATANASOVSKI)

Skopje (Republic of North Macedonia) (AFP) - North Macedonia's prime minister on Saturday proposed a snap election after the EU blocked the start of membership talks, scrambling what had been the key policy goal of his administration.

After hours of heated wrangling, European Union leaders on Friday could not agree on opening Skopje's accession negotiations, chiefly because of opposition from France.

The move triggered a wave of anger and disappointment, not just in North Macedonia and Albania -- whose bid was also put on hold -- but among EU officials and leaders who had lobbied hard to open the talks.

"We are victims of the EU's historic mistake," Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said in a televised address, echoing the words of European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker a day earlier, who appeared deeply apologetic for the decision.

"This is what I'm proposing: organising quick snap elections where you, citizens, will decide the road we are going to take," Zaev said. He would meet with the president and other political leaders on Sunday to discuss the next steps, he added.

North Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said the EU had made a 'historic
mistake' in blocking the start of accession talks (AFP Photo/OLIVER BUNIC)

"I have no date, all options are open, we will agree on that all together," he added.

'Give me a mandate'

In his address, Zaev said he shared the "anger and disappointment" of the people. But he asked them to give him another chance to keep fighting for the membership bid.

"I love my country, so I am asking people to give me a mandate to continue along this path."

Zaev and his Social Democrats came to power in 2017, ousting the right-wing party of former strongman Nikola Gruevski, who had dominated the country for a decade.

Since then, his government has poured all of its political capital into putting North Macedonia on a path to EU membership.

That included embarking on a complicated and politically risky effort to change his country's name, which has been Macedonia ever since it emerged from former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Adding 'North' to the name was a painful compromise that resolved a decades-old argument with Greece that was seen as the major stumbling block for any future EU integration.

Zoran Zaev's government has poured all of its political capital into putting North
Macedonia on a path to EU membership (AFP Photo/Robert ATANASOVSKI)

Brussels had pushed hard for the name change and promised the Balkan state would be rewarded.

While the deal won North Macedonia an invitation to join NATO, the larger goal of starting EU talks keeps sliding towards the horizon.

"We delivered results in the reforms, we resolved the issues with our neighbours, but they (the EU) did not keep their word," Zaev said in his address.

Apart from France, all the other member states accepted that North Macedonia had made enough progress on reforms to start the negotiations.

Yet French President Emmanuel Macron refused to budge from his position that the entire accession process must first be reformed before opening the door to new members.

The issue is now on hold until next spring.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his son Dushko cast their ballot for a referendum
to re-name their country North Macedonia on September 30, 2018 (AFP Photo/
DIMITAR DILKOFF)

"This is just not fair, what France did, what the EU did," said Vladimir Kostovski, a 28-year-old in Skopje.

Velko Velinov, a 29-year-old legal assistant, shared the frustration.

"They made us change our name for zero, for nothing. Zaev did that and now he is gonna lose elections," he told AFP.

All of the Western Balkan countries aspire to someday join the European Union, but progress has been slow and is increasingly threatened by the waning appetite for enlargement among some member states.

The EU's failure to follow through for North Macedonia is a "disastrous" blow to the bloc's credibility in the region, said James Ker-Lindsay, a Balkans expert at the London School of Economics.

North Macedonia hosts first Pride parade

France24 –AFP, 29 June 2019

Gay Pride participants carry carry a giant rainbow flag through the streets of
Skopje as North Macedonia holds its first ever such parade. AFP

Skopje (Republic of North Macedonia) (AFP) - A sea of rainbow colours filled Skopje's streets on Saturday as North Macedonia held its first Pride parade, with marchers calling for an end to LGBT discrimination in the largely conservative Balkans region.

Hundreds joined the march with whistles, an enormous rainbow flag, and signs as they walked through the city amid a formidable police presence.

"I am here to support human rights, but also to support friends who have been struggling to live fully and freely because of who they are," said Dafina, a 29-year-old Skopje resident.

Several ministers, MPs and ambassadors also joined the event which ended with a concert from local pop star Tamara Todevska, who sung her Eurovision hit "Proud".

"This (march) shows that our society is growing into a more mature society and moving forward," said Koco Andonovski, an LGBT activist from the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights.

But in different part of the capital, a conservative group organised a counter-rally for "family" values.

"If they want to a have parade, than we are not going let them be alone like winners on the street; we will parade for the right values as well," said one of the participants, 58-year-old Velko Veleski.

Discrimination against the LGBT community remains widespread in much of the Balkans region, though more countries are increasingly holding events like Pride parades to raise awareness.

North Macedonia is one of the last countries in the region to follow suit, with Bosnia next as it prepares its first Pride march in Sarajevo in September.

Greece, Macedonia sign historic deal to end name row

Yahoo – News, Vassilis KYRIAKOULIS, Saska Cvetkovska, 17 June 2018

The name change was agreed on in talks between Greek Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras, seen on the right, and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev, both of
whom were at the signing ceremony

Greece and Macedonia on Sunday signed a historic preliminary agreement to rename the small Balkan nation the Republic of North Macedonia, ending a row that has poisoned relations between the two neighbours since 1991.

"This is a brave, historic and necessary step for our peoples," said Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

"We are here to heal the wounds of time, to open a path for peace, fraternisation and growth for our countries, the Balkans and Europe," he said.

"Our two countries should step out of the past and look to the future," said Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

"By signing the agreement... we have really moved mountains," he stressed.

But as the two countries' foreign ministers signed the deal Greek protesters clashed with riot police, who beat them back with tear gas near the small village of Pisoderi, 25 kilometres (16 miles) away from the ceremony.

Six policemen and six protesters were injured, police said, as around 500 demonstrators waving Greek flags tried to approach the signature ceremony.

The accord aims to start unravelling one of the world's longest diplomatic disputes, which began 27 years ago with Macedonia's declaration of independence but whose roots date back centuries.

"The time has come again to sing happy songs in the Balkans," Tsipras said, moments before the document was signed by the foreign ministers.

Greece's northern province of Macedonia was the cradle of Alexander the Great's 

empire and is a source of intense pride for modern-day Greeks

Zaev and several of his ministers arrived by speedboat at the picturesque fishing village of Psarades under a sunny sky, on the southern bank of Lake Prespa, one of the natural boundaries between the two countries.

Tsipras and Zaev embraced on the village dock and were treated to a standing ovation by gathered dignitaries.

UN under-secretary-general for political affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, longterm UN negotiator Matthew Nimetz, EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini and EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn were on hand, snapping pictures with their smartphones.

Nimetz, who turned 79 on Sunday, and was given a birthday cake, has been trying to broker a solution since 1994, first as a US envoy and subsequently on behalf of the United Nations.

But it was the election of Zaev in 2017, replacing nationalist prime minister Nikola Gruevski, that proved crucial.

An economist and former mayor of Strumica, Zaev made a rapprochement with Greece a priority to secure his country's membership of the European Union and NATO, blocked by Athens for years.

After the signature, Tsipras crossed over to the Macedonian side of Lake Prespa for lunch, becoming the first Greek prime minister to visit the neighbouring state.

Since 1991, Athens has objected to its neighbour being called Macedonia because it has its own northern province of the same name, which in ancient times was the cradle of Alexander the Great's empire -- a source of intense pride for modern-day Greeks.

Protest rallies against the name change took place in both countries

The two premiers, born just months apart in 1974, have bucked strong hostile reactions at home to push ahead with the agreement.

Accusations of treachery

Tsipras has been accused of treachery by Greek hardliners, and on Saturday defeated a vote of censure against his government amid protests and clashes with police outside parliament.

In Macedonia, President Gjorge Ivanov plans to exercise a one-time veto option to block the deal that the nationalist opposition has called a "capitulation".

The Macedonian parliament is scheduled to start debating the agreement the coming week.

The accord still needs to be approved by Macedonia's parliament and then pass a referendum.

The Macedonian constitution must also be revised by the end of the year, before Greece's parliament is called to ratify it.

On Sunday, some 5,000 people marched against the name deal in Bitola, in southwestern Macedonia, an event organised by the main opposition VMRO-DPMNE party.

"Macedonia was hit by a hurricane today, and that hurricane has a name -- Zoran Zaev," VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski told the crowd. He reiterated that his party would not support any constitutional bid to change the country's name.

The one-hour protest held under slogan "Child North Macedonia -- Father Tsipras, Mother Zaev" ended peacefully.

'Brave steps'

Tsipras' domestic critics say he has bargained away Greece's diplomatic advantages -- the power of veto over EU and NATO accession -- for a deal that could backfire.