EU is concerned about situation in Macedonia - commissioner

EU is concerned about situation in Macedonia - commissioner

BRUSSELS -- EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn on Monday "reiterated that everyone in the European Union is concerned about the situation in Macedonia."

He repeated his call to political actors to work together to overcome the crisis.

"We are all very concerned," Hahn told reporters in Brussels, and asked that the Macedonian authorities urgently conduct "an objective, comprehensive and transparent" investigation into what happened in Kumanovo.

According to official reports of the Macedonian authorities, eight policemen and 14 terrorists were killed during clashes between the police and the terrorist group that came from Kosovo.

Hahn said that the conflict in Kumanovo "should not impede efforts to overcome the political crisis in Macedonia" which began several months ago and led to the blockade of parliament and street demonstrations in Skopje.

"Everyone should do everything to prevent escalation and resolve the crisis," he said.

Asked whether he had plans to visit Macedonia in view of the dramatic events there, Hahn, who is in charge of EU's neighborhood policy and enlargement negotiations, said that he had no such plans for the moment, "but did not rule out that it could happen soon."

"In my line of work one needs to be flexible," he was quoted as saying.