Austrian Ambassador to Macedonia Georg Woutsas sent a stern letter to the European Commission and to the Macedonian Parliament condemning the attempt by the ruling majority to amend the law on gambling. The changes to the law aim to curb the exploding number of casinos, and would limit them by location – to no less than 500 meters from a school – the goal being to reduce exposure of children to gambling. The law, that is mostly pushed by DUI and its coalition partners, is proposed in Parliament through an expedited procedure meant to align Macedonia’s laws with those of the EU countries.
But Austrian companies have extensive interests in the gambling sector in Macedonia, it will certainly have an impact on their profits and the Ambassador is now condemning the practice of using the “EU flag” procedure in Parliament for this legislation.
It was ok to use the EU flag for any other law, including changing Macedonia’s name.
