Written declaration No. 593 | Doc. 13774 rev 2 | 26 May 2015

The attempt at undemocratic seizure of power in Macedonia {According to Resolution (95) 23 of the Committee of Ministers, for all purposes within the Council of Europe, this State is provisionally referred to as “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” pending settlement of the difference which has arisen over the name of this State.}

Signatories: Mr Pedro AGRAMUNT, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Jean-Charles ALLAVENA, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Mr Volodymyr ARIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Viorel Riceard BADEA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Ms Mónika BARTOS, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Ms Deborah BERGAMINI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Gerold BÜCHEL, Liechtenstein, ALDE ; Mr André BUGNON, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr José María CHIQUILLO, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Agustín CONDE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Reha DENEMEÇ, Turkey, EC ; Mr Alain DESTEXHE, Belgium, ALDE ; Mr Arcadio DÍAZ TEJERA, Spain, SOC ; Mr Şaban DİŞLİ, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Ms Aleksandra DJUROVIĆ, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Ms Tülin ERKAL KARA, Turkey, EC ; Mr Claudio FAZZONE, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Axel E. FISCHER, Germany, EPP/CD ; Ms Sahiba GAFAROVA, Azerbaijan, EC ; Mr Giuseppe GALATI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Valeriu GHILETCHI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Gerardo GIOVAGNOLI, San Marino, SOC ; Mr Francesco Maria GIRO, Italy, EPP/CD ; Ms Anette HÜBINGER, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Giorgi KANDELAKI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Mr Jenő MANNINGER, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Thierry MARIANI, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Frano MATUŠIĆ, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Mr Jean-Claude MIGNON, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Philipp MIßFELDER, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Fazil MUSTAFA, Azerbaijan, ALDE ; Ms Hermine NAGHDALYAN, Armenia, EC ; Mr Zsolt NÉMETH, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Aleksandar NIKOLOSKI, ''The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'', EPP/CD ; Mr Žarko OBRADOVIĆ, Serbia, SOC ; Ms Marija OBRADOVIĆ, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Ms Judith OEHRI, Liechtenstein, ALDE ; Ms Liliana PALIHOVICI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Ms Ganira PASHAYEVA, Azerbaijan, EC ; Mr Kimmo SASI, Finland, EPP/CD ; Mr Andrej ŠIRCELJ, Slovenia, EPP/CD ; Mr Serhiy SOBOLEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Karin STRENZ, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Elkhan SULEYMANOV, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Ms Chiora TAKTAKISHVILI, Georgia, ALDE ; Mr Sergiy VLASENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Tobias ZECH, Germany, EPP/CD ; Ms Kristýna ZELIENKOVÁ, Czech Republic, ALDE

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

We express our concern about the latest developments in the political situation in Macedonia, specifically as regards the irresponsible behaviour of the political opposition.

We support the integration of Macedonia in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and state that Euro-Atlantic integration is the joint responsibility of both the government and opposition parties.

We state that the Macedonian parliamentary elections were free and fair, as reports by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe state.

We condemn:

the threats by Zoran Zaev, President of the Social Democrat Union of Macedonia, to the Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski;

the involvement of foreign secret services in illegal tapping of phone calls of the highest political officials of Macedonia.

We state that only political arguments and programmes based on the vote of the citizens are the democratic way to win elections.

We ask for:

restored political dialogue and responsible acts by the opposition, including the return to parliament of the opposition MPs to make full use of their parliamentary mandates;

free and independent court trials, with the highest European standards and a transparent procedure.

We underline the importance of political dialogue in resolving conflicts and call for a responsible political opposition in Macedonia observing the democratic rules of the political system.