12 Amendments of Sepp KUSSTATSCHER related to 2007/2268(INI)
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls that the 2005 Law on the Use of Community Flags allows communities’ national symbols be placed on and near local government offices; notes that disquiet arose followinga minority community which is in a majority within a municipality to use its flag; notes that the Constitutional Court judgment of 24 October 2007 con the use of national community symbols by local authorities, which gave the impressiofirmed the right of a community to fly its flag alongside the state flag and that it also extended the right to fly an ethat, contrary to the Ohrid Framework Agreement, use of the flag depicting the Albanian eagle would no longer be allowed, and welcomes the government’s interpretation that the Constitutional Court judgment on national symbols does not mean that flags at local government offices, including Albanian symbols, must be removednic flag to all ethnic communities in a municipality and affirmed the right of ethnic Albanians to use the Albanian state flag as their ethnic symbol; stresses that the Court also sought to clarify the limits to this right because it considered that the state and community flags have different meanings, and concluded that community flags may not be flown permanently, for example during official state visits, or on state buildings; calls on all parties to discuss this issue in the spirit of the Ohrid Framework Agreement and international standards;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Supports the initiative of the Thessaloniki-based Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe and the Soros Foundation to publish textbooks on Balkan history, in both the Albanian and the Macedonian language, intended for history teachers and secondary school students and aimed at incorporating different views on the common past, providing a balanced perspective and promoting reconciliation;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that the draft Law on Revision of the Electoral Code, which was given a reading on 27 September 2007 and would provide for the parliament to be enlarged by 13 seats in the interests of both representation of small ethnic minorities and representation of nationals living abroad, could help bring about a relative weakening of representation for the Albanian speaking community, and regards the factwas given a reading on 27 September 2007; expresses its concern at the fact that the proposed Law would have the effect of bypassing the use of the Badinter majority rule as intended by the Ohrid Framework Agreement, and trusts that the reading has been suspended as a contribution towards domestic stability will be further consultations in order to achieve a consensus;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Takes the view that, despite the adoption of the visa-facilitation agreement, access to EU countries still represents a big problem for Macedonian citizens and in general for citizens of the countries of the Western Balkans; welcomes, in this regard, the intention of the Commission to launch a visa dialogue with all the countries of the region, aimed at gradual visa liberalisation, and calls on the Commission to make every effort to finalise this dialogue quickly and transform it into an agreement;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Draws attention to the call by AmneNotes that on 7 November, a large police operation took place around the village of Brodec, north of Tetovo, with the aim of apprehending a number of alleged criminals, in which six members of the so-called "Brodec gang" were killed and a further 13 individuals from the village detained by the Ministry of International to set up an inquiry into the events on 7 November 2007, north of Tetovo, during which at least six possible intruders from Kosovo died; ior; points out that, according to the EU Monitoring Mission and the OSCE, the operation was carried out in a professional and effective manner resulting in no police or civilian casualties; welcomes the fact that the government has publicly stated that it will rebuild the mosque and other damaged infrastructure; expresses its concern about some reports that detainees may have been subjected to maltreatment on being arrested; calls in this regard on the Ombudsman to fully investigate the events and stresses that any outstanding questions relating to the police operation in Brodec should be addressed in an open, transparent and legally consistent manner;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. RecCalls that, at world level, most other states have in fact recognised this state under the constitutional name of 'Republika Makedonija', but that the European Union and the United Nations take as their starting point the 1993 interim agreement with Greece, which, for international use, lays down the temporary designation 'former Yugoslavon both sides to make every effort to overcome the name issue; points out that despite bilateral talks held under the auspices of the United Nations and assisted by Special Envoy Matthew Nimitz to find a mutually acceptable solution to the differences that have arisen over the name of the country no progress could be achieved since the adoption of the resolution of 12 July 2007; acknowledges the increased bilateral cooperation as well as people-to-people-contacts between the Republic of Macedonia', and calls on both parties to reach a final agreement as soon as possible with the help of ongoing mediation by the United Nations, under the direction of Mr Matthew Nimetz, and expresses the hope that this name issue will play no role in any decision on relations with NATO; Greece; stresses once again that the name issue is not part of the Copenhagen criteria and should become in no circumstances an obstacle to the membership of the state in international organisations as provided in the Interim Accord of 1995 and therefore urges the Athens’ authorities to stop threatening Skopje’s authorities to use their veto both for EU and NATO negotiations in case the name dispute is not solved;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a (new). Regrets the signing and the ratification by Macedonia of the Bilateral Immunity Agreement with the US authorities; stresses that such act contradicts EU standards and policies all aimed at supporting the International Criminal Court; calls on Macedonia, in this regard, to bring its legislation in line with the ones in the EU Member States;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that, of the three countries which have been European Union candidate Member States since 2005, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is the onlyAcknowledges the recent progress made by the country won iths which noay to EU accession negotiations have taken place to date, considers it desirable that this exceptional sand welcomes, in this regard, the inituiation should end, and callsve onf the European Commission to develop a roadmap leading to commencement of those negotiations, after which, if there are no new domestic conflicts, the Council can take a decision in 2008 on a starpresent to the Skopje authorities a document with a set of benchmarks whose fulfilment would result in setting a date for theaccession negotiations;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A (new)
Recital A (new)
A (new). whereas the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was granted since 2005 the status of EU candidate but as of today no date for the start of accession negotiations has yet been set; whereas this prolonged situation is adding frustration and uncertainty taking into account of the sustained pace of reforms undertaken lately by the Skopje authorities,