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Date: November 8, 2007
Ambassador
Nuland’s joint press availability with Macedonian Prime Minister
Nikola Gruevski
Victoria Nuland, US
Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council: Thank you
very much, Prime Minister, and thank you for the very warm welcome back
to Macedonia – my second trip this year, my second trip in the last 6
months.
Before I start with my remarks,
I want to congratulate the Prime Minister and his wife on their personal
contribution to the great nation of Macedonia and the birth of their
first child.
As the Prime Minister made
clear, I am here with a big inter-Agency delegation from Washington,
representing the White House, the State Department, the Department of
Defense and our military, not to make decisions yet on whether Macedonia
is ready, but to have what we hope will be our last coaching session to
help this great country meet its goal, which is an invitation to NATO at
Bucharest next spring. Our conversations today have been very serious
and very workmanlike and I thank the Prime Minister for the seriousness
with which he takes these issues.
Let me start by saying that, with regard to the progress here, our
assessments are very similar. The progress in Macedonia is truly
remarkable. Particularly in the areas of economic strengthening of the
country, the fight against crime and corruption, the improvement of the
investment climate – we congratulate you. We also are very grateful and
appreciative for the increasingly strong contribution Macedonia makes to
global security, with your soldiers serving today, not only in the
Balkan region, but also in Iraq and Afghanistan. And we thank you very
much for that. Our support for Macedonia goes beyond history, goes
beyond friendship. Macedonia is an example of a success story of a multi
ethnic democracy in this region, and an example for your neighbors.
But our message today was, when
you are running a marathon, you can not relax in the last two miles, you
have to sprint to the finish. And as the Prime Minister made clear, in
the case of Macedonia, sprinting to the finish means accelerating and
completing – implementation of the May 29th Agreements and the Ohrid
promises. It also means continuing to strengthen rule of law, judicial
reform, and multi-ethnic police services.
As I mentioned, Macedonia has
played a crucial role in the region, particularly in mentoring your
neighbor Kosovo, and in promoting positive democratic change in this
part of the world. Good neighborly relations are an essential element
for NATO membership and in that regard I was very pleased to hear the
Prime Minister’s commitment to the Nimetz UN-sponsored process and
settling outstanding issues with neighbor Greece.
We stand at another crossroads
for this vital region and for the Republic of Macedonia here. Our call
today is for statesmanship and leadership by all Macedonian politicians
and leaders to solve these last issues – to sprint to the finish – so
that we can stand with you at Bucharest. No decisions have been made by
my government or any other NATO member. We will not make those decisions
until next winter. Time is short, but we have confidence that with good
will on all sides and hard work here we will meet our shared goal.
Thank you, Prime Minister.
Mediator: We’ll take a
question each for the Prime Minister and Ms. Nuland. So, now I will open
the floor for questions. Comovski, please go with your question.
Reporter (Comovski):
Macedonia and Greece have a bilateral dispute. Do you think that this
bilateral dispute can affect Macedonia’s admission to NATO, in view of
the fact that other NATO member-states have their own bilateral disputes
and are continuously working to resolve them without posing a threat to
the harmony of NATO strategic interests?
Victoria Nuland, US
Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council: I would say
that when you go back and read the NATO Treaty of 1949, one of those
brilliant and really short documents, you will find very clearly there
that criteria for NATO membership include good relations with neighbors.
We are concerned that it is time to get Skopje and Athens back to the
table to talk about the issues that separate them, and it is in that
spirit that we support the acceleration of the UN-sponsored Nimetz
process, and we talked very candidly today about the need for both sides
to engage actively in it.
Reporter (q. for
Macedonian Prime Minister): Prime Minister, did you discuss with Ms.
Nuland yesterday’s actions, I would like to know if she came bringing
any kind of message with regard to yesterday’s developments? Thank you.
More specifically, did you have any suggestions as one of our strategic
partners?
Prime Minister of the
Republic of Macedonia: The actions yesterday were conducted in a
highly professional manner and was in line with enforcing the law in
Macedonia. One thing I can say about our meeting is that this action was
commended by Ms. Nuland.
Reporter: Ms. Nuland,
your opinion, please? Thank you.
Victoria Nuland, US
Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council: I would
simply say that we have been briefed on the actions of the security
forces. One of the things that was impressive to us is we understand
they were conducted by multi-ethnic police forces, which speaks to the
importance of these kinds of structures in a country like Macedonia.
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