Address by the President
of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Stojan Andov
Your Excellencies, Dear
Parliamentarians, Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, I would
like to reiterate mysatisfaction with your attendance of the Conference
ofPresidents of Parliaments of South-Eastern Europe. Weconsider that
to be an expression of the evidentsupport both of the parliaments of
the countries andinternational organizations that you represent and
ofyou personally. At the same time, that is anexpression of the readiness
for joint enhancement ofthe parliamentary dimension of the South-East
EuropeanCooperation Process.
I can only express gratitude
that the tragic events wehave been facing have not discouraged any of
theinvitees. We deem that a clear sign not only withregard to Macedonia,
but also towards development ofnew climate of confidence, cooperation
and commonsupport in our region. For that purpose, the broadestpossible
engagement and participation of all of us isrequired. I hope that you
share my belief that it isthe high time for the European South-East
to adoptbehaviour of the European North. The Nordic countriesare really
those whose experience can be aninspiration and a lesson we can learn
from - if ourpeoples and citizens are to enjoy well-being andpossibilities
of the new era and high standards in thefield of human rights protection,
as well as securityand well-being in their personal and family lives.
The starting motif for
the Conference was that in thenew millennium we should turn towards
the future ofour citizens and young generations, in whichparliaments
as their true representatives can andshould play an important role.
Today, more than everbefore, there is a need and common readiness forbilateral
and multilateral cooperation. That wasacknowledged at the 1997 Athens
Conference, whichunanimously concluded that parliamentary dialogue hasto
be institutionalized by organizing Conferences ofPresidents of Parliaments
of South-Easte Europe on aprinciple of rotation. Unfortunately, due
to variousreasons, that commitment was not carried out in theprevious
years. We have had only lower levelparliamentary meetings, which have
not turned into aregular joint activity practice. A gap has beencreated
between the cooperation at parliamentary andexecutive level, the latter
being characterized bycontinuity and jointly determined action structure.
Ihope that we will manage to overcome it in the periodahead.
Dear friends,
When deciding upon the
topic of today's conference, wehad in mind the future of the region
- future that weall so much wish to think and talk about. All the fourelements:
stability, economic growth, democracy andgood-neighbourly cooperation
have been positioned asfour pillars of our joint performance. Each of
thefour is necessary in order for the performance tosurvive; each of
the four must be strong enough to beable to bear the burden of the performance
beingcreated.
The first pillar - economic
growth - is a topicbroadly and often repeated and exploited, yetessential
for us all - both for the richer and for theless developed. Economic
reforms are an imperative forall the countries in the region. They gravely
affectthe majority of the population in the region, but areindispensable.
A sound base should be put in place forthe development of market economy
and rehabilitationof the economy, which is to adapt and gradually reachgreater
competitiveness. It is necessary to persistunder the pressure of unemployment
and the struggleagainst inflation. At the same time, new marketinstitutions
should be built that should move andtransform the old and inflexible
state tax, customsand other systems. Many reform endeavours arenecessary
to reach the turning point and set the basicconditions for a stable
and dynamic development.
Secondly: democracy -
a subject which we may discussendlessly. But, we should locate it right
here andright now and we should talk about it by usingspecific means
and criteria. Building of democraticinstitutions is not a motto, but
a hard work, theresult of which is tangible and measurable. For thedemocratic
reforms and the promotion of human rightswe should learn from the experience
of the others, butwe should give life to them only by applyingdemocratic
means.
Nobody in today's world
can develop in isolation andthat is the third pillar that I would like
to drawyour attention to. We are all inter-dependent andconnected to
each other. It seems that by turningtowards Europe and the world, we
have neglected thecooperation among us, our neighbours, so that theothers
had to remind us that the regional cooperationis necessary in all fields
of life. Still, the SouthEast European Cooperation Process, to which
we giveour parliamentary contribution today and tomorrow, isnot possible
without us, the countries in the regionand without our will for cooperation.
Many organizations attempt
to help the region bycarrying out a number of programs and processes.
Wewould like to play an active role, by contributing tothe drafting
and consistent realization of the agreed.That would be possible only
if we enhance theeffectiveness and efficiency of the invested means
andefforts.
Stability was not meant
to be the stress of my addresstoday. I considered that it would be unnecessary
to goback. But, unfortunately, the recent developments inMacedonia,
occurring immediately before theConference, impose once again the peace
and stabilityas a subject of utmost priority. The Republic ofMacedonia,
the lives of its citizens, have beenaffected by the warring activities
of armed terroristgroups known from the past and rightfully called bysome
as "gangs". Obviously, there are still somepeople in this
region who oppose democracy,good-neighbourliness and development and
do not wantto accept the peaceful, institutional democratic wayof solving
the issues.
Few days ago, we had a
long and exhausting session ofthe Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia
dedicated tothe current situation in our country (with a number ofbreaks,
consultations and co ordinations). We haveopenly faced all the facts,
opinions and positions.Through parliamentary spirit, we have reached
a highlevel of unanimity in support of the institutions ofthe system
and readiness to overcome the crisis. Wehave adopted really positive
conclusions related tothe complex situation and the tragic events. A
veryhigh and rare support has been manifested by theattending Members
of Parliament from all parliamentarygroups; out of the 103 who attended
the session, 97voted "for", 6 abstained and nobody voted "against".
The highest parliamentary
house, representing allcitizens, clearly expressed their will and readinessto
preserve the state sovereignty, territorialintegrity and inviolability
of its borders, as well asthe safety of the citizens, their lives and
property.That is our answer to the difficult challenge that weare facing
at this moment. But, our country faces manyother challenges, and not
only of a securitycharacter. Those are the economic, social and otherissues
and difficulties, present and affecting alsothe other countries in the
region in one-way oranother. There is inter-dependence among us asneighbours,
or as our traditional proverb has it - ingood and in bad. I believe
that all of us here todaywill do everything to provide support for thedemocratic
European option in each individual countryand in the region as a whole.
Thank you for your attention.
