Today we’re attending a presentation of the European Commission’s 2018 Country Report for the Republic of Macedonia on their key findings of the report. The session took place in the EU Info Centre on Friday, April 20 between 9:30 and 11:00 and was chaired by Ambassador Samuel Zhbogar. The presentation was followed by a joint discussion, as well as questions for Ambassador Zhbogar.
The EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said on April 17 that Macedonia “has done a lot in the last couple of months and this should be acknowledged.” In light of this, the European Commission recommends the start of memberships talks with Macedonia to join the European Union. Even though the Commission has recommended talks for Macedonia to join the EU since 2009, there hasn’t been a positive decision on behalf of the EU thus far.
According to the 2018 Report regarding the status of LGBTI rights in Macedonia, the European Commission stated:
“On the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons, in 2017, important progress was made. The new prime minister and the political leadership have publically expressed support for the rights of LGBTI persons and committed to making progress in this area. In Parliament, an inter-party group consisting of 13 MPs was formed to advocate the rights of LGBTI persons in February 2018. However, societal prejudice continues and hate speech is prevalent against LGBTI persons in the media, internet and social media. Incitement to homophobic/transphobic hatred and violence is not effectively prevented or punished by the authorities. Previous attacks on the LGBTI support centre have yet to be effectively investigated. The legal framework does not allow for official recognition of same-sex couples. A step was taken towards legal gender recognition with the Administrative Court’s decision to allow a change in the sex marker and personal identification number of two transgender women. However, legal gender recognition procedures are not regulated by law. Furthermore, access to healthcare for transgender persons remains limited.”
You can find the complete report on the following link.