With a series of criticisms, EU Ambassador David Geer presented the report of the European Commission on Macedonia, at a joint press conference with the Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, Bojan Marichikj. According to Geer, the report is frank and fair and comes in a context where there is significant momentum in terms of enlargement.
“The report is frank, but fair. By doing so, we want to give encouragement to the authorities, the state institutions, or political actors to do more, much more, to advance on reforms in the interest of citizens and in the interest of the path to the European Union,” said Geer.
The EU ambassador also pointed out that there was no progress in the fight against corruption, but even increased corruption at a high level.
“”No progress has been noted in the fight against corruption. We are seeing high-level corruption cases on the rise. This results in the obsolescence of the works, which causes great concern. The report praised the work of the SCPC and the SAO, but called for the recommendations to be followed by both. There is limited progress in the state administration. Conditions in prisons are still bad, especially in the Idrizovo prison. The report calls for special efforts to be made in promoting non-discrimination. The report also expresses serious concerns about anti-gender campaigns,” Geer pointed out.
