Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Macedonia.

Mr David Lidington

I am very concerned by the human rights situation in Macedonia and by related developments, including most recently the decision of President Ivanov to pardon those individuals currently under investigation over allegations of abuse of power. This decision undermines the principle that all people must be held legally accountable for their actions. I raised my concerns over this decision and its implications for the rule of law in my public statement of 14 April. I, along with international partners, have also spoken to Nikola Gruevski, former Prime Minister and leader of the governing party VMRO, and raised concerns over the credibility of forthcoming elections in Macedonia, attacks on democratic institutions, and the wider level of commitment to the democratic process including the lack of media reform and the intimidation of voters. As I made clear to Mr Gruevski and to other party leaders during my visit to Skopje in March, Macedonia must implement commitments on the rule of law and free and democratic institutions as set out in the European Commission’s Urgent Reform Priorities.