Mr President, I would like to take up what Mr Dupuis had to say. I believe that when the audience in the stands sees ARYM up there, they will actually think this refers to a different country. ARYM means Ancienne République Yougoslave de Macédoine, i.e the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Quite simply, that means ‘Macedonia’. The dispute about the name is a dispute between Greece and the country of Macedonia. Of course we all hope – and that includes the Greek MEPs here – that this dispute will soon be settled. We have seen how the difficult situation in Macedonia has steadily worsened where the treatment of the Albanians is concerned. All of those who, for a long time now, have been going in and out of this country, have kept up the pressure for this problem to be resolved. However, I would also stress that this problem is nothing new: it is the legacy of the Yugoslav period, when the Albanians were always discriminated against, including those in Macedonia. Unfortunately, it was, of course, the case that the problem was not resolved under the last government, in the run-up to 1998. Therefore, we are all delighted that a genuinely sound solution is perhaps at last to be found to this problem of higher education. The illegal foundation of Tetovo university many years ago produced great tension in Macedonia, which I am sorry to say, could not be defused over the past few years. We owe a duty of care to the students to ensure that this problem is resolved. After all, these students had, or have, diplomas that serve no purpose in the outside world. Therefore, I believe we owe it to the young people to find a solution to the problem, and have now paved the way to this end. As a delegation, we have always insisted that a solution should be found to this problem. Now at last we have found it. Not us, but the government under Prime Minister Georgievski, and also the Albanian leader, Xhaferi, and above all, the representative of the Council of Europe, Max van der Stoel. This outstanding cooperation has led to a draft bill, which was adopted by the majority in Parliament. In common with Olivier Dupuis, I bitterly regret the fact that the opposition parties – which formed part of the government up until 1998 and could have resolved the problem – have closed their minds to this draft bill without offering a better solution themselves. I am particularly at a loss to understand the behaviour of the Albanian opposition party, which has deliberately closed its mind to the necessary solution to the Albanian problem in Macedonia. The fact that the Socialist opposition refused to support this must have been against their better judgement, but that sometimes happens with the opposition, and not just in Macedonia. We are now awaiting the necessary aid for the transformation of Tetovo university into a private university whose diplomas will then be recognised. All those who want to see an improvement in the inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia, in the interests of stabilisation, must now do their bit to help solve this problem and ensure that a private university actually becomes a reality. That is what this urgent procedure is all about today. People from different ethnic backgrounds must be able to live together in Macedonia. This could provide a good role model for the neighbouring countries and help to stabilise the entire region.

Political group: PPE-DE