Fule: HLAD to resume right after elections in Macedonia

Vice-Premier for European Affairs Fatmir Besimi and Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki held talks Thursday in Brussels with EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule.

The talks focused on resuming the Macedonia-European Commission High-Level Accession Dialogue (HLAD), which thus far has yielded substantial results in key reform areas, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.

HLAD will resume right after the elections in Macedonia, Fule told Besimi and Poposki, MIA correspondent reported from Brussels.

Poposki said the next HLAD cycle would pay special attention to implementing Macedonia’s strategy in areas vital for acquiring the EU membership status – the rule of law and good neighbourly relations.

EU-related reforms, including the HLAD's role, were the main topics of today's talks, Fule's Cabinet said in a press release.

It was agreed to prepare another round of the HLAD, following the formation of the new government, specifically focused on addressing the issues of rule of law and fundamental rights and good neighbourly relations.

The agenda will contain fewer issues than the previous rounds of HLAD. Particular attention will be paid to the concrete challenges on the ground so that the results achieved can contribute to further advancing the accession process. In this context, Commissioner Fule stressed the importance of inclusiveness and underlined that the National Council on European Integration should play a role in further EU-related reforms and in the context of the HLAD, the press release reads.

At the meeting Commissioner Fule also discussed the implementation of last year's 1 March political agreement and key reform priorities including in the fields of freedom of media, judicial independence and electoral legislation, as well as good neighbourly relations.

He expressed his expectation that the conduct of the upcoming elections, under a newly revised and implemented election framework, would be free and fair, and that all parties and citizens would engage in mature political discourse.