On December 13, 2023, in the premises of Hotel Aleksandar Palace, the sixth Plenary Session of the National Convention on the European Union in the Republic of North Macedonia was held, organized by the European Movement in North Macedonia. The conference is dedicated to presenting the achieved results of EMMK for 2023, as well as to discussing the most current topics in Macedonia, in relation to its candidate status in the Union, namely: discussion on the rule of law, and on corruption as an everyday occurrence in the country. The theme of this year’s plenary conference is: “National Convention on European Union in North Macedonia: Achieving Fundamental values for European future.”
The conference was opened by Professor Mileva Gjurovska, the national coordinator of NCEU-MK and president of the European Movement, who greeted the attendees and announced the theme of the sixth plenary conference. Gjurovska pointed out that the Convention is supported by the Delegation of the European Union for the Republic of North Macedonia, and it has held more than 50 sessions with the participation of over 2000 expert representatives in 6 working groups, namely: Working Group 1: Agriculture and rural development; Working Group 2: Social policy and employment; Working Group 3: Justice and fundamental rights; Working Group 4: Justice, Freedom and Security, Working Group 5: Environment and the new Working Group 6: Anti-corruption.
The opening speeches were started by the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, who in his presentation explained part of the findings of the new report of the European Commission, in which it is stated that we have not made much progress. According to the report of the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCMS), whose findings were also used in the preparation of the report by the European Commission, as many as 1/3 of the citizens in 2023 were exposed to corruption, and even 1/4 of our citizens succumbed to the pressure and gave what was asked of them. Pendarovski said that corruption is corruption, regardless of whether it is 500 or 500,000 denars. Pendarovski explained that foreign sanctions are not enough, because in the meantime corruption here has become a way of life, and a mentality of people that must be changed.
After the president’s speech, David Geer, the Head of Delegation of European Union in North Macedonia, expressed his own views, and agreed with Pendarovski, pointing out that he has given an accurate diagnosis of how the corruption affects every part of our life, and how the absence of the law means that innovation will decrease, people will get tired and cynicism towards state institutions will grow, and so the possibility of change will decrease. These problems are a challenge for the state, and the screening process that has been finished successfully and generated an open and fair report can help with the challenge. Regarding the rule of law, the report says that there is no progress, and trust in judges and institutions has decreased.
Arber Ademi, the President of the Commission of European Affairs in the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, began his presentation by thanking NCEU-MK for the opportunity to participate for the second time in a plenary session. He pointed out that this conference is the best opportunity to address two important topics such as the rule of law and the fight against corruption. Ademi clarified that when taking into account the current events such as the war in Ukraine, it is very clear that these are difficult times that have awakened Europe and helped it realize that there is a great need for a new unity, but that also a new energy is felt in relation to of the extension.
The Vice-President of the National European Integration Council in the Assembly of North Macedonia, Sonja Mirakovska, also spoke, who, considering the bilateral screening process in relation to which we are expected to set the roadmaps for the rule of law and public administration, congratulates everyone who tirelessly worked on the screening. She added that the National European Integration Council will review them and give its suggestions regarding the roadmaps. Regarding the topic of the conference, she pointed out that fundamental social values are not only a condition for membership, but also a necessity for the functioning of society, and we should adapt these issues according to European frameworks, because we will be closely monitored during the process of implementing the European legislation.
After Mirakovska’s presentation, the President of the European Movement in Italy, and the Advisor to theEuropean Commission and political advisor to the Spinelli group, Pier Virgilio Dastoli, spoke, and said that ambitions are not always at the level of reality, but they are not a theoretical idea but should be a reflection of the needs of the citizens. Therefore, our goal should not be the reality in which we live, but we should bring reality to the level of ambitions. Dastoli clarified that the most important thing is to understand our mistakes and learn from them, so that we can make a new approach regarding European integrations.
The last opening address was given by Henrik Markus, the Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to the Republic of North Macedonia. In his presentation, Markus pointed out that for Slovakia, the integration of the countries of the Western Balkans is a priority, and the main reason why Slovakia supports the National Convention, because it gathers all representatives of society to discuss the most important points of European integration.
After the introductory presentations, Professor Trpe Stojanovski, otherwise a continuous NCEU-MK expert, in his role as moderator, started the first panel discussion, with a small introduction about how it is obvious that in Macedonia, at the moment, certain processes are moving forward, but also backward, and with a brief introduction to the new methodology, asked a question about whether and how the recommendations from the previous sessions of NCEU-MK were accepted.
Together with him, Viktor Mitevski, also in the role of moderator for the first panel discussion, otherwise also the Executive Director of the Association for Research and Analysis ZMAI, asked a question to Minister Oliver Spasovski, that is, he indicated that we are aware that the transformation of the security system is a process which costs a lot of money but also requires a lot of human capital, so in the context of that, his question is whether as a country we have enough funds for these needs and processes and whether we have enough qualified staff that will be able to handle this work.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Oliver Spasovski, began his presentation by pointing out that our task is to mirror the European values in our societies, which will improve the lives of our citizens. He added that the path to entering the Union of the region for the Western Balkans is very important, because citizens want to live in countries where the rule of law is strong and corruption does not exist, and these are the main reasons why they leave the country, and in that direction, the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the last 20 years has implemented a large number of reforms supported by our partners from the European Union. Spasovski added that major reforms require the involvement of everyone, and the path we have traveled so far was not easy, but there were still great successes, such as the reform of the security and intelligence services, which is one of the largest so far, and on which the Ministry of interior is proud. He also pointed out that we successfully dealt with the challenge of a violent influx of migrants, and now he emphasized the current problem of migrant smuggling, adding that the common goal is to stop this process.
The next presentation belonged to Viktorija Avramovska Madić, Deputy Minister of Justice, who indicated that the recommendations given from the previous sessions of the National Convention will be incorporated, respected and implemented in certain legal norms and they will be put into further processing. She explained that we should not individualize corruption, because it exists in many institutions in certain officials, but the fight against it should not be only by enforcing legal norms, but also by developing the awareness of the citizens of North Macedonia, that is, they should it is about the awareness of every citizen who wants to see his country in the European Union.
The next speaker was Aleksandar Krzhalovski, Director of the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCMS), and also co-chair of NCEU-MK, who pointed out that at this plenary session, it is clear that the job of state representatives is to boast about what they have implemented so far, while the civil sector is here to express what still needs to be done. Krzhalovski repeated that according to their research, every third citizen was asked for a bribe, that is, put in concrete numbers, over 500,000 people faced the request for a bribe, while in the judiciary we have only 98 verdicts during the previous year for the abuse of a position in the state, which is a big discrepancy, which means that only 98 out of 500,000 cases have been reported and completed.
The next speaker, Professor Aleksandra Deanoska Trendafilova, also the coordinator of Working Group 3 at NCEU-MK, started her presentation with the question, are we aware of the goal we want to achieve? She wondered if the citizens and policy makers are aware of this goal that they see on a more abstract level, adding that each of us aspires to reach a peaceful peaceful day in our lives where we will not worry about whether we are safe, whether we have employment rights, but the real question is if we become a member of the Union tomorrow, will a German in Macedonia get the same judicial and legal protection from Macedonia as he would get in Germany? Therefore, according to Deanoska Trendafilova, everyone who participates in the creation of policies, should start with this kind of thinking in order to reach the best solution. As long as the institutions themselves do not realize their importance, there is no progress in reforms.
After the end of this part of the plenary conference, the moderators Muhamed Halili, Co-Chairman of Working Group – 3, Ambassador, Vice-President of the European Movement in the Republic of North Macedonia, and Marina Mitrevska, Coordinator of Working Group – 4, Professor, Institute for Security, Defense and Peace, Faculty of Philosophy, University “St. Cyril and Methodius” – Skopje, announced the last panel discussion, in which the focus was transparency, anti-corruption and the rule of law.
Halili started the second panel by announcing Aleksandar Bajdevski, Deputy Minister for Information Society and Administration, who, after greeting the attendees, addressed the topic regarding transparency, and the measures and activities of the Ministry of Information Society and Administration. Bajdevski pointed out that good governance is the cornerstone of a transparent administration, which requires the active involvement of citizens in decision-making processes, but there must also be a fight against corruption.
Next spoke Apostol Simovski, the Director of the State Statistics Office of the Republic of North Macedonia, who clarified that even a century ago it was said that the statistical way of thinking would become as important to the citizens as the knowledge to read and write, adding that today, information and knowledge should be the basic building blocks of society. Simovski clarified that all the information institutions that work with statistics nowadays are facing very big political, economic and social changes, both in national and international frameworks, because the global connection and global trends give new users, and therefore the need for new data and sources, new methods, techniques and technologies for data collection.
The next presentation went to Frederique Dubost, Liaison Judge – Ministry of Justice of France, expert on Southeast Europe, who indicated that 69% of European citizens believe that high-level corruption is not adequately dealt with by state institutions, which is almost the same level as the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia. Dubost singled out four points that the state should focus on in the fight against corruption, namely: education, training and capacity building, transparency and sanctions. Dubost said that we should work together because we can learn a lot from each other, and we should also prepare to sign agreements between institutions, as an indicator of good relations, for example between the State Inspectorate, the State Commission, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and so on.
Biljana Ivanovska, the President of the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, said in her presentation that no one else will lead our fight but ourselves, because corruption is a terrible pain in society that violates the rule of law, democracy and human rights, competition, economic development, the stability of institutions, but also destroys the moral foundations in society. Ivanovska added that although the fight against corruption is not difficult, experiences show that we can achieve success in the long term, even with a 10% saving of the state budget. According to DKSK; corruption can be opposed by personal example, and strategically. By personal example, it is work in such a way that the non-productive costs in the institutions are reduced to 0, and a strategic approach is the fulfillment of a legal authority for the preparation of the national strategy for the fight against corruption.
The expert presentations in the second panel discussion ended with Dragan Tevdovski, Professor at the Faculty of Economics, UKIM, Skopje, also a continuing NCEU-MK expert, who in his presentation offered a solution, in terms of property devaluation, and the idea is for the state to have a fully consolidated balance sheet of the public sector, and to know at any moment what is the state of its assets and liabilities. Tevdovski said that our focus should always be on the flows and the budget, which shows the financial income and expenditure between two points in time. He added that the budget is only one tool that should deal with the funds available to the state, and increase the net worth of a state.
After the end of the second panel, a fruitful discussion opened in which the attendees shared their views on corruption and the rule of law, as well as on the transparency and accountability of state institutions, through the prism of the academic, civil, legal and business sectors. The plenary conference ended with a lot of new information and perceptions, which are of great importance for the National Convention, the purpose of which is exactly this open dialogue and exchange of ideas.