The path to EU membership for both countries is high on the agenda at the pre-summit meeting of Party of European Socialists prime ministers today, attended by FYR Macedonia prime minister Zoran Zaev as well as Alexis Tsipras of Greece.

It follows the agreement by EU ministers earlier this week that negotiations should begin next year.

The PES has been a long-time champion of EU membership for the region, including hosting a programme of events and meetings in the Western Balkans in recent years to support their developing European orientation.

Chairing the meeting, PES president Sergei Stanishev said:

“It is clear that the heroic efforts of governments in both Tirana and Skopje to prepare their countries for EU accession negotiations are finally bearing fruit. It will benefit not only the security and stability of the region, but also the whole of Europe, for both countries to take their rightful place at the EU table.”

On the recent deal between Mr Zaev and Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras, resolving the name dispute between the two countries, Mr Stanishev added:

“We are proud of our role in facilitating the historic agreement between the two countries after many years of dispute, including hosting bilateral meetings between Zoran and Alexis, culminating in our leaders’ summit last month in Sofia.

“The entire progressive family stands behind them on their path to reconciliation, and we look forward to the agreement being finalised so that the barrier to EU and NATO membership is removed for FYR Macedonia.”

At the meeting today, both Mr Tsipras and Mr Zaev thanked the PES, progressive European Commissioners and Mr Stanishev personally for their support in achieving the deal.

Other participants in the meeting:
António Costa, prime minister of Portugal
Stefan Löfven, prime minister of Sweden
Joseph Muscat, prime minister of Malta
Peter Pellegrini, prime minister of Slovakia
Pedro Sánchez, prime minister of Spain
Udo Bullman MEP, president of the S&D group
Federica Mogherini, EU high representative for foreign & security policy
Frans Timmermans, first vice-president of the European Commission
Maroš Šefčovič, vice-president of the European Commission
Pierre Moscovici, commisisoner
Karl-Heinz Lambertz, president of the Committee of the Regions

The PES Presidency meeting held in Riga, Latvia, fully supported the proposal that all PES member parties should be involved in a transparent and democratic process to nominate their candidates.

If there is more than one candidate, there will be a competition between them which will culminate in a PES European Election Day on 1 December 2018. A PES Congress on 7–8 December in Lisbon will ratify the results and endorse the common candidate.

PES president Sergei Stanishev said:

“It is great that PES member parties will be involved in the process of selecting our common candidate on the PES European Election day.

“At the last elections, the PES led the way as the first European political party to commit to the common candidate process, which was a commitment to improving democracy and transparency. Now we are taking this a step further.”

The procedure of selecting the common candidate was adopted after almost a year of discussion in a special PES working group, chaired by PES treasurer and former Irish Minister Ruairí Quinn.

Nils Ušakovs, mayor of Riga and leader of the Saskaņa party which hosted the event, added:

“I am happy that such an important decision as the PES common candidate procedure was taken here in Riga, home of the youngest PES member party, Saskaņa. This is a clear signal that in the PES transparency and democracy rule, and there are no small or big parties in our progressive family, only equal partners.”

The Presidency meeting also agreed that the future common candidate will have a key input in shaping the PES manifesto for the 2019 European election. European socialists and democrats will adopt their election manifesto in February 2019.

Today, the Greek government announced its intention to recognise its northern neighbour as ‘Republic of North Macedonia’, and its counterpart in Skopje expressed its will to start the procedure of changing the country’s name.

PES president Sergei Stanishev said:

“We are proud that this historic agreement was reached while progressive governments are running both countries. The negotiations and the proposed solution for solution has only become possible after the government of Zoran Zaev came to power in Skopje, ending the years of pointless denial by the conservatives.

“This is a great development for both countries, as well as a victory for democracy and stability in the Balkans region and for the progressive political family in Europe.”

The efforts of both Alexis Tsipras and Zoran Zaev were welcomed by all PES prime ministers in Sofia during the PES preparation meeting for the EU-Western Balkans summit just 3 weeks ago.

Mr Stanishev added:

“This agreement proves that progressive governments care about the future of the European project. It makes it possible for Northern Macedonia to start accession talks with NATO and the EU, and contributes to the stability of the Balkans.

“The PES calls on all governments in the EU to prove that those who make difficult decisions are rewarded, and to invite Skopje to start the accession negotiations with the European Union at the 28-29 June EU summit.”

PES president Sergei Stanishev said:

“We warmly welcome the election of Pedro Sánchez, a progressive and honest pro-European, to lead the next government of Spain. He will shift away from the austerity policies of the past years in his country and we are confident that, together with our political family, he will contribute to ending austerity at the European level as well.

“I would like to congratulate Pedro personally. I am looking forward to working with him and welcoming him in Brussels.”

The proposal suggests creating a ‘reform delivery programme’ to incentivise structural reforms, and an instrument to tackle asymmetric shocks.

PES president Sergei Stanishev said:

“Today’s proposal is an acknowledgement by the Commission of the need for the eurozone to be ultimately given a budget to safeguard itself from future crises. The PES has discussed this issue in length.

“While I welcome this positive step, I also want to make two points. First, this can only be seen as a step in a much broader process to reinforce the eurozone. No one should pretend that, with these instruments, the job is done.

“Second, we insist that the budget must be used as a tool to promote social, economic and territorial convergence — a progressive reform agenda. Under no circumstances should it promote conservative austerity or neoliberal structural reforms.

“We believe that the budget could be instrumental in strengthening public investment. In certain cases, the budget should also used to complement national unemployment schemes in case of severe economic downturns.”

Mr Stanishev added:

“We all witnessed the damaging effects of the last financial crisis. Unfortunately, the eurozone is not yet ready to face another such crisis. That’s why it’s so important to create a eurozone budget, and to deepen the economic and monetary union.

“There is no reasonable argument for continuing with the austerity agenda — it has already done enough damage to citizens’ lives. Now it’s time to rebuild trust, enabling our economies to grow in a sustainable and socially just way.”

The meeting, hosted by PES president Sergei Stanishev, welcomed Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and the prime minister of FYR Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, as well as the socialist prime ministers of Portugal (António Costa) and Malta (Joseph Muscat), ministers and leaders from PES member parties from the EU and the Western Balkans.

The summit follows the European Commission’s newly announced enlargement strategy as well as the recommendation for Macedonia and Albania to start accession negotiations.

Chairing the meeting, PES president and former Bulgarian prime minister Sergei Stanishev said:

“I am glad that prime ministers of Greece and FYR Macedonia are here together today and we commend all the efforts of the two governments to move forward in solving all disputes.

“The PES firmly believes that the future of the Western Balkans lies with the European Union, and that enlargement is part of the debate on the future of Europe. Speeding up the process and expanding EU support for necessary reforms is clearly both in the interest of the countries concerned and the EU. The progressive family has consistently worked to keep the Enlargement policy up and running. I am particularly glad to see Balkan countries led by progressive governments advancing on their European path.

“The efforts of both the Albanian and Macedonian governments should be encouraged. It would be a good sign if the European Council in June endorsed the Commission’s view that the countries are ready to start negotiations.”

At the meeting, progressive leaders reconfirmed their deep regret over President Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal. The deal was the result of international efforts and an example of EU leading a negotiation process that had brought stability to the world.

PES is appalled by the bloodshed in Gaza and calls for the end of the ongoing violence. Any lasting solution should be based on the two-state solution supported by the UN.

The event is co-hosted by the PES’s European parliamentary group, Socialists & Democrats, and the parliamentary group of the centre-right European People’s Party.

As a former prime minister of Bulgaria as well as the leader of the country’s Socialist delegation in the European Parliament, Mr Stanishev is the opening speaker. Other headline speakers include Boyko Borissov, the current prime minister of Bulgaria and leader of the ruling party GERB; Korneliya Ninova, leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party; and Dragomi Stoinev, deputy chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party parliamentary group.

The conference is titled ‘Bulgaria in the eurozone: Economic logic vs myths’. Leading economic experts will also discuss the cost of non-entry into the eurozone.

In advance of opening the conference, Mr Stanishev said:

“At this crucial point in the Bulgarian EU presidency, the attention of all of Europe is focused on Bulgaria, and the eurozone is high on the agenda. This is an opportunity that Bulgaria must seize.

“That’s why I proposed today’s high-level conference, to bring together Bulgaria’s major parties as well as economists and other experts to lay out the path to joining the single currency, and address some of the myths around it.

“Our place is in a reformed single currency, one which works to improve the prosperity of all its members and to reduce the gap between the EU’s richer and poorer countries. This is not just a treaty obligation for Bulgaria, but a political priority too.”

Around 12 000 suspected drug dealers have been murdered either by the police or government-supported gangs as part of a programme of extra-judicial killings authorised by the Philippines government.

MEPs today passed a resolution by a large majority, condemning President Duterte’s disregard for human rights and his attempts to silence critics both at home and abroad, including PES deputy secretary general Giacomo Filibeck, who was expelled from the country earlier this week.

PES president Sergei Stanishev said:

“Shooting people on the streets demonstrates a complete disregard for basic human rights. This is not only wrong, it is a strategy doomed to fail. We encourage President Duterte to prioritise the fight against drug-trafficking networks, instead of executing small-scale dealers and consumers.

“We also call on the Philippines government to end all threats and intimidation against its critics, including human rights activists, journalists and opposition leaders, and to stop politically-motivated prosecutions against these people. All Filipino citizens have rights and they must be respected.”

The expulsion of Mr Filibeck took place during a PES visit to the Philippines to address the congress of Akbayan, its sister party in the Progressive Alliance. PES supports social democrat parties around the world in their fight for basic human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

PES president Sergei Stanishev said:

“These talks in themselves will have a very positive effect in the region. When launched, they will constitute a very powerful incentive for reform in both countries and for wider cooperation within the region. I congratulate the European Commission and High Representative Federica Mogherini on their strategic thinking.

“We have been a very vocal supporter of the integration of the Western Balkans in the EU, since I was a prime minister of Bulgaria. This is where we all belong. But joining the EU is not a lottery, there needs to be full commitment to EU principles and values from the candidate countries.

“I know prime ministers Edi Rama and Zoran Zaev are particularly committed to those values. Let’s use this window of opportunity to consolidate peace and stability in the region.”

PES president Sergei Stanishev replied:

“Mr Daul may find it interesting to note that, according to the latest polls, BSP (БСП) has the support of nearly 19% of the Bulgarian citizens, while GERB stands at 21% — a fact which Mr Daul’s Bulgarian hosts might have conveniently omitted to mention to him.”

The EPP president’s praise for Bulgarian prime minister Borissov regarding the success of his government are also questionable. GERB only holds onto power in Bulgaria due to the support of the far right, and the EPP member itself has been forced repeatedly to clarify and dissociate himself from the eurosceptic statements of the deputy prime ministers and ministers from his coalition partners.

The last case was less than a month ago, when Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov, a member of the nationalist ‘National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria’ (Национален фронт за спасение на България), called Ska Keller, Member of the European Parliament, a “green jihadist”.

In 2013, Joseph Daul called ‘Attack’ (Атака), currently also a coalition partner of GERB, a “xenophobic party which violently rejects the European path of Bulgaria”.

The accusations that Bulgarian socialists have somehow ceased to exist come in the wake of public discontent in the country over questionable business deals with an energy distributor company and with the government’s ecology policies. As an active opposition, BSP has become the voice of public opinion in these matters, and has strongly criticised alleged corruption in GERB.

Mr Stanishev added:

“Socialists in Bulgaria, just like across the rest of Europe, not only exist but are defending the interests of citizens, fighting for social justice and opposing single-party rule — such as the regime of Orbán in Hungary, whose party is also an EPP member.”