Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski outlined the country’s three main strategic priorities in his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“Macedonian citizens know where they belong. We are a NATO ally. The United States is our strategic partner. Full membership in the European Union is our strategic commitment. These are not three separate policies. It is a single geopolitical orientation, grounded in democracy, collective security, the rule of law, and an open economy. In times of uncertainty, our answer is not strategic ambiguity. Our answer is clarity, said PM Mickoski in his address to the 81st UN General Assembly.
However, Mickoski noted, clarity in our alliances does not mean turning our backs on the world.
“On the contrary. A state that is confident in its democratic and strategic choices is precisely the kind of state that can engage and cooperate with greater self-assurance with countries that have different histories, different interests, and different political views. The world does not need another division into permanent camps. It needs competition with boundaries and rules that everyone must respect. Alliances that take responsibility. And international institutions that remain a space for dialogue precisely when dialogue is most difficult,” Prime Minister Mickoski said.
In the concluding remarks of his address to the United Nations, the Prime Minister touched upon issues of identity and history.
“We are a small country. But we refuse to let the smallness of our territory define the scale of our ambition. Our ambition is to become a serious state. A state that its allies can trust. A state in which young people can plan their future. A state that respects the diversity and multicultural character of its society. A state confident enough to defend its own identity without denying the identity of others. A state that knows its history but is not imprisoned by it. And a state that does not expect others to build it in its place. That, to me, is modern sovereignty. Not isolation. Capability,” added PM Mickoski.