EU Ambassador Rokas Says Constitutional Changes Are Fact

In Friday’s interview with MTV1, EU Ambassador Michalis Rokas said the constitutional changes were a fact.

“The Copenhagen criteria and the EU acquis, as it is called, of course, includes the rights of minorities, especially the Action Plan for minorities”, he noted.

However, Ambassador Rokas said the EU understood the government would like to solve the matter with some guarantees that there was not going to be bilateralisation of the process.

“We understand that, but also the EU leadership has already spoken against bilateralisation in the enlargement process. But, that said, we all know what the commitments are, and I previously referred to the diplomatic activity which is ongoing. So, I believe that we need to give the space to diplomacy to bear its fruits.

And, at the same time, we shouldn’t lose focus because the momentum is here, the opportunity is here, the funds are there. So, we need to make sure that we really press the foot on the accelerator, non-stop, on the reforms that need to be done”, he also pointed out.

Regarding the issue of judicial reform, the EU Ambassador said it was the mother of all reforms. In that regard, he pointed out that that had to be a priority. Ambassador Rokas pointed to the peer review mission’s recommendations and the Rule of Law and Country Reports.

“So, all what needs to be done to align the country with the standards of the EU with regard to the rule of law is there”, he added.