November 30 (SeeNews) - Macedonia needs to intensify the fight against money laundering and conflicts of interest, the European Parliament said.
Members of European Parliament (MEPs) call on the national authorities to better shield the judiciary from political interference and address remaining rule of law problems, which continue to pose serious challenges, the European Parliament said in a statement on Thursday.
In a report on Macedonia's progress towards EU accession, adopted in a 470-to-116 vote with 46 abstentions, MEPs praised the country’s strong commitment to fully implementing the 2015 Przino agreement and the Urgent Reform priorities, which has led to intensified efforts on EU reform, the statement reads.
The Przino agreement was signed between the main political parties in Macedonia with the mediation of the European Union. The agreement foresees a special prosecutor to lead the investigations about eventual crimes in a wiretapping of some 20,000 people during the rule of former prime minister Nikola Gruevski.
"Once all conditions are fulfilled, Macedonia’s membership in the EU will ensure a promising future for its current and future generations. The EU will also need to deliver on its own promises to a country that has been left in the waiting room for too long and can provide a substantial contribution to the stability, security and progress of South Eastern Europe as a whole," European Parliament rapporteur on Macedonia, Ivo Vajgl, said.
MEPs also welcomed the decision by the parliament in Skopje to start the constitutional process of implementing the June 17 Prespa agreement signed with Greece, which foresees the renaming of the former Yugoslav republic to North Macedonia - a step that opens the door to EU and NATO accession negotiations.
Macedonia has been a candidate for accession to the EU since 2005 but has not yet entered into accession negotiations. Athens has blocked Macedonia’s attempts to join NATO and the EU over the country's name, saying it implies territorial clams on Greece's northernmost province of Macedonia.