25 Amendments of Andrey KOVATCHEV related to 2022/2203(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9
Citation 9
— having regard to the Council conclusions of 18 June 2019, 25 March 2020, 14 December 2021, 18 July 2022 and 13 December 2022 on enlargement and the stabilisation and association process,
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas each country should be judged on its own merits and whereas the accession process should not be misused to settle bilateral disputes;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Expresses concern about the unjustified delays in the accession process; stresses the need to strengthen the process’s transparency, accountability and inclusiveness, including its parliamentary dimension;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes North Macedonia’s commitment to upholding civil liberties and fundamental rights; welcomes its progresefforts towards eliminating allcertain types of discrimination and ensuring equality;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Urges the authorities to step up protection of vulnerable groups and the prosecution of hate crimes, domestic and online abuse and to improve services for the victims of violence; welcomes changes to the Criminal Code of North Macedonia, covering crimes related to violence against women and the safety of journalists and insists on the need to strengthen North Macedonia’s anti-discrimination commission and Ombudsman’s office;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Regrets the continuous lack of progress in implementing the previous European Parliament recommendations regarding discrimination, hate speech, threats and intimidation against citizens openly expressing their Bulgarian identity and/or ethnic background;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Urges the relevant bodies to proactively prevent and systematically prosecute all instances of hate speech, hate crimes, threats and intimidation, to thoroughly investigate related attacks and to ensure the safety and security of their targets, such as journalists, people belonging to ethnic communities and other vulnerable groups; strongly urges the media outlets and the authorities of the Republic of North Macedonia to deter from utilizing and publicizing hate speech against EU Member States and its closest neighbours; calls for the government and the judiciary to improve institutional capacity in this area and ensure the increasing hate speech is addressed in accordance with international standards;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Calls on the Republic of North Macedonia to fully guarantee equal rights for all ethnic communities in the country, including through appropriate constitutional and legislative amendments and in all relevant legislation, and ensure that no disadvantage shall result for citizens from the exercise of their right to identify themselves as belonging to any ethnic group;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Reiterates that guaranteeing the right of the citizens of North Macedonia who identify as Bulgarians, and their inclusion in the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia and all relevant legislation, is a pre-condition for the start of the negotiation process for RNM’s EU membership;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 c (new)
Paragraph 18 c (new)
18c. Deplores the increasing discrimination against citizens of North Macedonia who identify as Bulgarian, which includes, among others, the arson of the independent Bulgarian cultural club “Ivan Mihaylov” in Bitola in June 2022, the shooting against the independent Bulgarian cultural club “Tsar Boris III” in Ohrid in November 2022, the attack against the Bulgarian State Cultural and Information Center in Skopje, which was broken into in March 2023, and most of all, the severe beating of Christian Pendikov in January 2023 who was attacked because of his Bulgarian self-identification as noted by the Prosecutor’s Office in Ohrid, North Macedonia;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Notes the Government of North Macedonia’s improving engagement with civil society, whileand underlines the importance of ensuring inclusive consultations and transparency; however notes with concern the lack of engagement with civil society representing and defending the rights of the various ethnic communities in the country;
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Condemns the discriminatory changes in legislation adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia in October 2022, which restricts the naming of NGOs, which has been implemented retroactively for existing organisations, and which has been used specifically against two independent Bulgarian cultural centres in the country, out of over 17,000 NGOs in RNM;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Welcomes the agreement at the Tirana Summit on reduced roaming costs; in this respect calls on the authorities, private actors and all stakeholders to facilitate reaching the agreed targets to achieve a substantial reduction of roaming charges for data on 1 October 2023 and further reductions leading to prices close to the domestic prices by 2027;
Amendment 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Invites policymakers and the societies of Bulgaria and North Macedonia to assume joint responsibility and to restore the positive agenda between the two countriesSupports the restoration of a positive agenda between Bulgaria and North Macedonia in the spirit the of the Treaty of Friendship; expresses support for continued diplomatic and societal dialogue to resolve bilateral grievances in good faith;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Regrets the fact that apart from a few sporadic instances the two countries have failed to jointly commemorate and/or celebrate shared historical figures/dates in the past years in a consistent manner; the relations between RNM and Bulgaria should be based on deep, mutual respect and appreciation for each other, including consideration and preservation of the common historical heritage;
Amendment 271 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)
Paragraph 25 b (new)
25b. Condemns any attempt to replace historical monuments and/or artefacts, including the destruction of authentic cultural heritage and highlights the importance of a fact-based reading of history; such incidents raise serious concerns, including in the context of the lack of implementation of the 2017 Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 c (new)
Paragraph 25 c (new)
25c. Recalls the need to open up Yugoslav secret service archives, kept both in Skopje and in Belgrade, in order to vigorously address communist-era crimes across the region; takes the view that transparent handling of the totalitarian past is a step towards further democratization, accountability and institutional strength in both the country and the Western Balkan region as a whole;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 d (new)
Paragraph 25 d (new)
25d. Condemns the closure of the border on 4 February, 2023 by authorities of North Macedonia, which prevented the participation of Bulgarians at the commemoration of a common national hero of Bulgaria and North Macedonia, which constitutes a breach of the 2017 Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 e (new)
Paragraph 25 e (new)
25e. Strongly encourages the authorities and civil society to take appropriate measures for historical reconciliation in order to overcome the divide between and within different ethnic and national groups, including by listing citizens of Bulgarian identity among the others in the Constitution;
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Supports efforts to reach an agreement on constitutional and legislative changes that would include additional communities in the preamble of the North Macedonia’s constitution and all relevant legislation;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a. Strongly urges the Joint Multidisciplinary Expert Commission on Historical and Educational Issues of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia, established as a result of the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation, to resume its work; furthermore urges all texts, already agreed by the Joint Multidisciplinary Expert Commission, to be published in the respective languages of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia, and in English;
Amendment 285 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 b (new)
Paragraph 26 b (new)
26b. Reiterates the need for the work on school history textbooks in Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia to resume as per the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation; the texts should reflect the interpretation of historical facts and figures from the common history of both peoples based on authentic historical documents/sources; this is the foundation on which the two countries should build their relations; the relationship between the future generations of RNM and Bulgaria will be a reflection of the education processes in the two countries;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 c (new)
Paragraph 26 c (new)
26c. Calls on the Republic of North Macedonia to amend its Constitution to include the ethnic communities with Bulgarian, Croatian and Montenegrin identity;
Amendment 313 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Notes the need to fill in transport connectivity gaps by improving planning and administrative and operational capacity and by making progress on new and unfinished core infrastructure projects, including rail and road corridor VIII;
Amendment 316 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32a. Reiterates the importance of improving the public infrastructure within the Western Balkans countries and with the EU Member States; recalls the potential of the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans to enhance regional connectivity through Rail and Highway Corridor VIII to Bulgaria, and gas interconnectors to Greece, Kosovo and Serbia; recalls the importance of developing air connections within the Western Balkans countries and with the EU Member States;