Journalist question: President, we have read the European Commission Report. To what extent is it covered with technical details relating to the Copenhagen criteria, or does it contain more, I would say, political moments – “just change the constitution”. What is your opinion?
President Siljanovska-Davkova: I will tell you not only as a President, but also as a person who has seen many reports in his life, an MP who has discussed each report, and the conclusion is – yes, reports should be more of a technical nature, a technical representation, because they diagnose, further classify and evaluate. But I always say – every report does not speak only about the evaluated, but also about the creator, i.e. the evaluator. Yes, in the reports on our country and our annual progress, the technical dimension has or dominates, but very often, and this time too, the political dimension is also present, or, simply put, the conclusion would be that technically you may be making progress, but politically you may be blocked. Or, the technical assessment is sometimes presented through a political prism. I think this second element is problematic and controversial. Perhaps in the future, when creating the reports, in the spirit of negotiation, because negotiations are not about me submitting a report to you and you just commenting on it, perhaps during the creation of the report, within bodies such as the Parliament or the National Council for European Integration, or the Commission for European Integration, some of these issues should be discussed. Or, perhaps, the final version should be the fruit of both the dialogue that will take place, and the remarks of the one who observes, let’s say. In this regard, I intend, I think it is on the 17th, because a president has the right to a member of the Council for European Integration, I nominated my colleague there, a top expert on this issue, but I think it is good for me to appear there myself, to express my commitment to reintegration, or to the European integration process, but also to present some of my observations on the report.
Journalist question: The funds from the IPARD program have been temporarily frozen, after the arrests, after the bribery affair. How do you see this situation now?
President Siljanovska-Davkova: The situation, how should I say, resembles a time of examination or re-examination. I think that the proposal for a temporary blocking came from the government or the prime minister, in order to examine the network. Otherwise, what can I say, IPARD funds are very important, it is an incredibly important project for us. Here today in the talks with the Mayor, we discussed the use of IPARD funds, how important that is and I think that the European behavior or behavior within the framework of the rule of law or behavior as good hosts towards funds that are given to us as aid is very, very important. Abuse should be strictly sanctioned. It is not the first time that we have faced the phenomenon of abuse, that is not good. There must be responsibility, but this should immediately be a reason to guarantee the transparent process in the use of funds and responsibility and accountability in order to prevent post festum sanction, but, again, there are opportunities for abuse. Abuse, is not a responsible attitude, abuse is not an European act and I think it should be brought to an end.
