19 July 2005

U.S. Hails Macedonian Parliament's Final Step on Ohrid Agreement
State Department calls on all parties to continue to fully implement all requirements

The United States has welcomed steps taken by the Macedonian Parliament that complete the legislative requirements of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, which ended fighting between government security forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in 2001.

“We call on all parties in Macedonia to continue to fully implement all Framework Agreement requirements, as well as their commitment to the rule of law and to the resolution of disagreements through dialogue and negotiation,” said deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli July 19.

Following is his statement:

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U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesman
July 19, 2005

Statement By Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman

MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT REACHES MILESTONE ON 2001 OHRID AGREEMENT

The United States welcomes the Macedonian Parliament's approval on July 15 of the Law on Community Symbols, the final step in completing the legislative requirements of the 2001 Ohrid Framework Agreement. Since 2001, the leaders of Macedonia have worked to create a stable, multi-ethnic country on the path to joining the Euro-Atlantic community. They adopted important constitutional amendments and changed more than seventy laws to fulfill the legislative agenda of the Framework Agreement.

Much remains to be done to implement the legislative changes. We call on all parties in Macedonia to continue to fully implement all Framework Agreement requirements, as well as their commitment to the rule of law and to the resolution of disagreements through dialogue and negotiation. Macedonia will have the continued friendship and support of the United States in these efforts.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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