With the reforms we all wait, we want to see a strong judiciary, Rokas said.
The head of the EU delegation, Ambassador Michalis Rokas, said closely to the resolution of the dismissal of members of the Judicial Council and believes that everything can be seen as interference with the independence of the judiciary and the functioning of the Judicial Council is a question that is causing concern in Brussels.
-It is obvious that we are following it all, and we follow it closely. On the one hand, as you know we made many recommendations on how judicial reforms should take place, not only in our annual report but also in the rule of law, especially the Judicial Council and its proposals. Our view is that everything that can be seen as interfering with the independence of the judiciary and the functioning of the Judicial Council is an issue that is causing concern. We all know that the legal grounds for dissolving members of the Judicial Council are not related to interpellations, this is a different procedure. With the reforms we all wait, we want to see a strong judiciary, which will be the basis to help the country fight corruption, which is the first priority right – Rokas told a journalist question about the interpellation of members of the Judicial Council voted in Parliament.
Asked how he commented on stopping the procedure for dismissal of state prosecutor Ljupco Kocevski, he pointed out that the procedure is being done again.
-Again, it’s about the process, not the individual. It is clear to us that the process is currently frozen, although there was a procedure before. But I will insist and think that what matters is that the EU and what we recommend and say is not against individuals but to have a strong system that will respect the independence of the judiciary and these dissolutions or procedures should follow the process of European standards – said EU Ambassador Rokas.
Asked where he thinks we are most late with the reforms, in which institution and what is the weakest link, Rokas pointed to the rule of law and public administration – key components in the Cluster « Foundations »
« I would say two areas in which we need to focus the most -that is the rule of law, a key component of everything, and the other is public administration reform. We need a competent public administration that can implement all reforms. In the part of the rule of law, we work really hard. We know it is a great priority, it has stagnated for the past few years, so we need to have concrete steps ahead, and have them very soon-Rokas said, answering a journalist question at today’s press conference on presenting the growth plan for the Western Balkans and the 2024-2027 Reform Agenda.
