Ambassador Baily: Opposition’s comeback in Parliament is vital for democracy

It’s very important that VMRO-DPMNE is coming back in the Parliament as a leading opposition party, US Ambassador to Macedonia Jess Baily said late Wednesday in an interview with TV 24 Vesti (News).

‘Having a strong opposition, active in Parliament, discussing laws is a critical part of the democracy, and very much a part of being the European democracy,’ Baily said.

Referring to the reform process in Macedonia, Baily notified that some reforms were going faster than others, which he considered as normal.

‘Some of these reforms are quite complex and it’s not just a matter of passing a law when you talk about the reform process, what you trying to do is change how the institutions function and in the end how people function,’ the US Ambassador said.

With regards to Athens-Skopje name dispute, Baily underlined the need of settling the matter, as stipulated in the Declaration of the 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest.

“I think right now there is a very important opportunity as you have governments in Macedonia and Greece that are committed to finding a solution that will be in the interest of the regional stability. It will improve the bilateral relations, open up areas of cooperation in business and commerce. So it is in the interest of both countries and certainly if we see it more broadly in the interest of Europe and the transatlantic security. So I think it is an important opportunity in the moment to be seized. It’s not going to get easier as time goes on,” Baily said.