EAPC MeetingBudapest, Hungary 30 May 2001

Address of Her Excellency Ilinka Mitreva, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia Lord Robertson, Dear colleagues, Ladies and gentlemen, Thank you very much for the opportunity to address this esteemed forum on such an important issue. I will try to be brief and to the point, because there is no time to waste. Macedonia and the region are at a major turning point of restoring peace, stability and prosperity. The citizens of the Republic of Macedonia do not need to be convinced that peace is the right option. When others in the region fought wars for ethnic cleansing and ethnically clean states, we chose dialogue and pursued political solutions to all problems in the country. As a result, Macedonia was set out by the overall international community as a model of democratic multiethnic society. Recently, we have found ourselves under the attack of armed Albanian terrorists, who are seeking to undermine the core values of our state. They spread violence and hatred to promote their agenda, which ultimately has nothing in common with democracy and human rights. In these difficult moments, Macedonia spoke against war. A Broad Coalition Government was formed, consisting of the major parliamentary political parties, including the political parties of the ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, with a very clear Agenda, to stabilize the situation in the country, with emphasis on intensifying the political dialogue in inter-ethnic relations, to continue already initiated reforms, and to prepare early elections in the country. It was an effort encouraged and supported by the Euro-Atlantic community, most notably NATO, EU and the US. The dialogue, led under the auspices of the President of the Republic, was usurped by men who have no place in this process. There is no room for dialogue with terrorists. They have to be isolated - militarily and politically - so that politicians can work together responsibly to promote solutions that will be acceptable to everyone. Fortunately, we were able to overcome the impasse, with the help of Dr. Solana and Lord Robertson and the support of NATO and EU. In a joint communique issued yesterday, the leaders of the political parties in Macedonia rendered irrelevant the Prizren document of 22 May 2001. They have all agreed that the future of the Republic of Macedonia can only be decided by democratically elected representatives, working through a peaceful political process. This will enable us to get back to our Agenda and devote our attention to facilitate speedier realization of the Law on Local Government that will mean a much more decentralized government and more power to local communities and broader use of the Albanian language. The agenda also includes facilitating greater representation of the Albanians in structures of state administration, finalizing the project of opening a state financed channel that will broadcast programs in the languages of the nationalities in Macedonia and bringing to a completion the already advanced stage of the South East European University, otherwise known as the Van der Stoel University, that will solve the problem of higher education of the ethnic Albanians in Macedonia for higher education in their native language. Ladies and Gentlemen, Building long lasting peace and stability in the region requires a comprehensive approach of cooperative and interrelated measures to bolster security, political, economic, social, and other reforms. The most urgent security challenge for my country now is the protection of its territorial integrity and sovereignty and of its citizens. In a country of only two million, every life: every man, woman and child is precious, no less than the protection of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our state. Together as allies and partners, we have to stand in the way of men who preach and profess violence, by cutting off their financial support, training, the inflow of weapons, and to work on collecting and destroying dispersed weapons. Of no lesser importance is to disable the networks of organized crime that feed them - the illegal trade and trafficking of weapons, narcotics and human beings. This will reinforce reforms in other areas. We understand the problems of the region of South Eastern Europe, and we have mechanisms to deal with them. There is no lack of initiative, and now we need to catalyst them in a way that will promote synergies among national, regional and integrative processes (e.g. South East European Cooperation Process and Southeast Europe Defense Ministerial, the Stability Pact and EU and the OSCE, NATO's initiative for South East Europe, NATO Membership Action Plan with EAPC and Partnership for Peace. We need to establish a division of labor, if you will,) and will make them more effective and result oriented. In this respect, I remain deeply convinced the most effective way forward for South East Europe remains the open door policy for membership in NATO and the EU, that will motivate each country to accept change more readily and to move faster toward that goal The signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement between the EU and the Republic of Macedonia in Luxembourg this April has proved this point. In a similar fashion, the unique relationship of Macedonia with NATO has facilitated speedier realization of the Membership Action Plan and fulfillment of NATO standards and norms for our future membership. Ladies and Gentlemen, Now is the time to act decisively to promote and cement the agenda of peace in South Eastern Europe. How we deal with this security challenge will affect the future security of the whole Euro-Atlantic Area. By safeguarding the core values of Macedonia, its democracy and unitary character, we are safeguarding Euro-Atlantic values that can transform, once and for all times, a region that has generated instability and crises into a prosperous and stable European region. Too much is at stake, too much that all of us have worked so hard to achieve, in order to let any other option prevail.