Macedonia: FNF Board Member Günter Kröber Honoured

Nano Ruzin, Project Director Peter-Andreas Bochmann, Günther Kröber, Zaron Sapurik, Goran Milevski, from left to right

Günter Kröber, a member of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom's Board of Trustees and a retired member of the Saxon Constitutional Court, in his role as representative of the German Federal Bar Association for Eastern-/South-Eastern Europe, has for many years endeavoured to support bar associations in Macedonia in their efforts to adapt their country's judicature to European standards. In doing so, he also invited leading members of the local bar associations to Germany and provided them with the opportunity to get acquainted with the German justice system.

Recognizing his knowledge, his colleagues from the Macedonian Bar Association invited Günter Kröber many times to their annual General Assembly, where he gave lectures on his experience of shaping constitutional structures. In recognition of his long-standing partnership and support, the 55th Assembly of the Bar Association, recently meeting in the historic lakeside city of Ohrid, awarded Kröber with an honorary certificate.

At a subsequent event hosted by FNF's partner, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Kröber gave a talk titled "The Constitutional Court as a Guarantor of Democracy and Rule of Law". Based on his bitter experiences in the former East Germany, he explained how the Saxon state parliament adopted a constitution in 1992 and the consequent creation of the Constitutional Court of Saxony, where he worked as a judge for many years.

The importance of a functioning Constitutional Court was made clear in statements by Zaron Sapurik, former Minister of Environmental Policy, and Nano Ruzin, the LDP's 2009 presidential candidate. Both men cited examples of the government's efforts to influence the Macedonian constitutional court or question its decisions. The liberal LDP has many times brought motions forward to strengthen the position of the Constitutional Court. Kröber's remarks gave confidence to the Liberals of Macedonia that their policy of strictly observing constitutional norms is the right way ahead.

Peter-Andreas Bochmann