At a press conference Tuesday with his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenković, Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski stressed that the country’s strategic goal is to be part of the European Union.
“There are no more opportunities for identity concessions, for a step back when it comes to our national benchmarks, no matter the price. If that is the price we have to pay, despite being the real frontrunner, as long as this government is in power, it is prepared to pay that price. If bilateral processes are really the ones that should judge our European path, then we will fight in a different way,” Mickoski said in response to a reporter’s question.
The PM pointed out that Macedonia began its path to the European Union 26 years ago by signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement.
“We received our EU candidate status together with Croatia, I think maybe even a month earlier. Together with Croatia, we received the first positive report from the EC in 2009 to start accession negotiations. Sadly, our path went in a different direction, that is, our integration into the EU turned into a bilateralization of that process. Bilateral issues were more significant than the Copenhagen criteria, which created a lot of frustration among us as Macedonian citizens, because we appreciate that we have long deserved our place within that family,” said the Macedonian Prime Minister.
“Another such request is before us, and unfortunately, the previous government accepted it, thinking, according to the survey, that if they received a white sheet of paper and signed it, they would remain in power,” added PM Mickoski.
