Macedonian parliament approves laws required by NATO bid

Macedonian lawmakers are tackling a series of measures required to meet NATO accession requirements, with an eye to an invitation for membership in the Alliance this spring.

Parliament adopted the laws last week. [File]

Parliament members are working together towards fulfilling NATO's requirements, ahead of a potentially crucial Alliance summit in April. Three requirements were met on December 3rd when parliament adopted laws on the council of public prosecution, council of attorneys and the committee for interethnic relations.

Prior to passing the laws that had languished for months, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski met with leaders of three other parties -- Radmila Sekerinska of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), Menduh Taci of the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) and Ali Ahmeti of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI).

The laws that were passed are part of the consensus that had been reached among these four leaders, who also agreed to deal with any unresolved issues prior to NATO's spring summit in Bucharest.

According to the new laws, the state public attorney will now be elected by parliament with an absolute majority rather than a two-thirds majority, with prior consent of the council of attorneys. Additionally, the deputy attorneys' terms are now permanent and the justice minister received a seat on the council of attorneys.

The interethnic committee legislation provides for the adoption of 46 laws using the Badinter Principle, under which the laws would need approval by a specified minimum of minority party MPs before they can be adopted.

While a law on languages that the DUI backed was excluded, a provision was made that, in the future, any law relating to language and culture would be adopted according to the Badinter Principle.

A day after the laws were adopted, the US Embassy in Skopje described them as an encouraging step for everyone. Politicians were praised for working together, which was particularly important for Gruevski and Ahmeti, because they played leading roles in reaching the consensus, according to a US Embassy press release.

Passage of the two laws on public prosecution and the council of attorneys has brought judicial reforms full circle within the past two years. The constitution has been amended and a new law on courts has been adopted, resulting in a new arrangement of the courts.

Additionally, the academy for training judges was established and is now in operation. Judges for the newly formed appellate court in Gostivar and the administrative court were elected a month ago.