English
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski addressed the Concordia Summit in New York yesterday, where he spoke about Macedonia’s delayed EU integration and the prospects of building a modern economy. Mickoski noted that instead of using the EU integration process to change Macedonia’s institutions, some EU member states tried to use it to change Macedonia’s national identity. Still, he said that there are some positive, encouraging signs from Brussels.
There are always some positive messages rhetorically from Brussels. We can say that something tangible was the Tivat EU – WB6 summit. We heard a lot of positive messages. There was a joint presentation by France and Germany of a document which is informal. We are hearing from Brussels that maybe at next Council conclusions this document might become somethijng that is an official policy of the EU. Let’s see. And in the meantime we have fully aligned our common foreign and security policy with the EU. Our legislation is more or less adjusted with that of the EU. WE are not just waiting, we are doing our development, we are doing our homework, so in the meantime we are not losing and throwing away our time but quite contrary this is our strategic milestone and we will keep to that path going forward. For us, for my generation, negotiations with the EU were a kind of way to change the institutions – not to change the identity. Unfortunately there are some member states that are trying to solve some bllateral issues and not to change our institutions but to change our identity. And we are a victim of a kind of bullying:- you are either in or you are out, and if you want in you have to digest what we are requesting from you. But this is the option and there is no better option for my country. And since there is no better option, we are ready to push this forward and find a way out of this locked situation, said Mickoski, who is meeting a host of EU leaders during the various events around the UN General Assembly.