Honorary guests and speakers at the 5. Macedonian-German Forum were Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert, President of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and former President of the German Bundestag (address via video conference) and Goran Misovski, Vice President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia.
The welcome addresses were delivered by Daniel Braun, Official representative of KAS; Vasko Naumovski, President of the Institute for Social Research – MK91 and Former Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, as well as Otto Graf, Deputy Ambassador and Head of Economic Section of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to North.
The speakers who took part at the Panel discussion on “30 Years of Independence – The role of the Parliament in Democracy” were MPs Aleksandar Nikoloski, President of the National Council for European Integration; Arta Bilali – Zendeli, Vice Chair of the Committee on European Affairs; Darko Kaevski, Member of the National Council for European Integration; Monika Zajkova, Member of the Committee on European Affairs.
In addition to the Members of the Assembly, Marion Walsmann, Member of the European Parliament and Vice-Chair of the Joint Parliamentary Committee of the EU Delegation to North Macedonia, also took part in the panel discussion.
The moderator of the discussion was Jovan Andonovski, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law at the University “Goce Delcev” – Stip.
The president of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Prof. Dr. Lammert reflected on the Macedonian path towards the European family, and said that the Foundation has been supporting this process for 20 years.
“The accession perspectives of the Western Balkans were a bit superficially perceived and managed, some EU countries even considered the promise as support, while others underestimated the changes you have made. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Tirana has given a clear message to other governments that support for EU negotiations must continue”, Lammert said.
In his welcome address, the official representative of KAS, Daniel Braun congratulated the significant 30 years jubilee of the independence of the Republic of North Macedonia, and emphasized that the independence signified the beginning of the democratic parliament in the country.
“Parliament is the most important place where debate takes place, and it is also no less important that MPs, as representatives of the citizens, hold debates and make decisions for the benefit of all citizens”, Braun said.
The Vice President of the Assembly, Misovski stated that the Legislative House is committed to fulfilling the European standards.
“MPs are increasingly active in communicating with other parliaments, because the EU is the best tool for progress. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for a date due to the blockade from Bulgaria, which does not refer to the reforms. We are maintaining our course”, said Misovski.
MEP Walsmann said that parliamentary democracy also meant reaching compromises, obtaining a majority and having an intense discussion among MPs.
“It is important to strengthen the parliament and the parliamentary democracy. It must be guaranteed that the rules in the Parliament are fair to all. A sovereign and free parliament controls the government. There must be common game rules for all parties. One must be a person of trust in front of the citizens. I am grateful to be part of the Jean Monnet dialogue and to be able to discuss the mistakes we have identified”, Walsmann said.
The Deputy Ambassador of Germany in the country, Otto Graf, emphasized 3 points for better functioning of the Assembly. The first is that reforms are very important, not only for EU membership, but primarily for the citizens. The second point is that the ethnic composition in the Parliament should not be seen as an obstacle, and the last one is that the role of the parliament is very big, and that it must work for the benefit of the citizens.
The President of the National Council for European Integration, Aleksandar Nikolovski, said that Germany is the driving force behind the EU enlargement, and the country’s largest and most serious partner.
“Germany is our partner in NATO and a serious investor in the country. I am sorry that the current government has not continued the policy of attracting foreign investors to keep the youth in the country”.
The common conclusion was that the Assembly must act jointly, without blockades and by consensus among the parties, a good example of this being the voting of the Electoral Code in the Assembly. The debate also opened the discussion on the representation of women in parliament, the role of young people in policy- making, as well as North Macedonia’s historic agreements that opened the door to the future of the country.
The analysis and survey “30 Years of Independence” was also promoted within the 5. Macedonian-German Forum.
