Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-03-14-Speech-3-015-000"
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"en.20120314.5.3-015-000"2
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"Mr President, I would like to start by saying how proud I have been during the past year to be appointed as rapporteur to establish a very fruitful collaboration with the shadows, to support the work of the Commissioner, whom I deeply respect, and to become even more convinced that this is a country which belongs inside the European Union.
It is why I endorse the call for EU accession talks to start ‘without delay’ in paragraph 1, sentence 1 of the resolution: no qualifications. It is why I have tabled an amendment endorsing the high-level accession dialogue due to begin tomorrow, not as an alternative to talks, but as an opportunity for progress which cannot be missed.
I point to the improvement in elections that I witnessed and in parliamentary cooperation, to economic progress, to judicial and public service reform. I do not see as criticism the words of those who call me friendly to the country, because friendly criticism is precisely what is needed. On war crimes, freedom of media, discrimination, police ill-treatment and on the Roma, look at the resolution and you will find such friendly but robust criticism. And the decision to abolish the crime of defamation against journalists is indeed demonstration that our demands are being heard and acted upon.
It is why those who wish to delete my reference to the country’s success in the basketball championships are wrong. It shows that we can appreciate the difference between legitimate national pride at the same time as warning against illegitimate political nationalism. For those who are erecting hoops through which the country must jump, it is one very apt metaphor that they can do it.
But the warnings are not just to the country, but to ourselves, not least in the incidence of ethnic conflict over the last week. As I was told in the country: for stability, like a bicycle, you need to keep moving forward.
And that includes the name issue. Despite the Hague judgment, I repeat today that there is no shortcut to a negotiated solution. But to those who seek to delete paragraph 15 even though it meets the UN accord: you would be sending a signal that we do not understand the feelings of the people of the country or express our desire to back a solution which is fair and just to all. And to colleagues from neighbouring countries who have negotiated with me have seen how I sought to be flexible and inclusive: just as you rightly call on Skopje to avoid provocations, in the way that you speak today and in the way that you vote, I call on you to demonstrate the very same commitment.
Shortly, this country will take over the chair of the Regional Cooperation Council. It hosted the meeting of Ministers of European Integration from across the Balkans in the wake of this year’s Commission progress reports. It is a country which has excellent relations with both Serbia and Kosovo. Its progress points to the European future of every single one of the countries, but there has to be a European future for every one of the countries, which is why this is the debate which must be heard; these are the obligations which must be met on all sides; this is a country which cannot be left behind."@en1
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