EU Vice President Georgieva Urges Restraint in Macedonia

European Commission Vice-President Kristalina Georgieva on Sunday voiced concern about the political crisis in Macedonia and urged all parties involved to show restraint.

Speaking in Blagoevgrad, in southwestern Bulgaria, where she attended a graduating ceremony for students of the American University in Bulgaria, Georgieva said that the EU Commission hopes that common sense will prevail in neighbouring Macedonia.

"We've seen measures being taken, including resignations, to address the complexity of the problem and calm down the situation there," Georgieva said, according to BGNES.

She added that the European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement , Johannes Hahn, is in Macedonia, keeping a constant contact with the government and the opposition. She urged political talks as the best way to avert bloodshed and said an independent investigation will be launched into the incident in Kumanovo in which eight Macedonian police officers were killed.

The EU has a very great interest in the stability of the Balkan region, Georgieva added.

"We want to see all the countries of the Western Balkans within the EU. Over the current programme period we have allocated EUR 11.7 B for candidate states including about EUR 700 M for Macedonia because we want the country to be prepared to adhere to all the values all of us are sharing,"  she said.

"We are following very closely what is happening in Macedonia and we know that the best way to overcome the problems they are currently struggling to resolve is to act within a single European family".