The government has decided to establish a structure for Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski said Monday.

Vice Prime Minister Bojan Maricic will be the main negotiator, and the team will also include domestic experts, civil servants and experts from outside the institutions, as well as foreign experts.

Kovacevski believes that the institutions have the capacity for negotiations with the EU and expects a quality and efficient structure that will cope with the challenges. He announced that the whole process will be inclusive and transparent. He called for a social consensus to achieve progress towards the EU, for the inclusion of the civil sector, the business community, the academic community, and he also called on the opposition to actively participate, support and help the process.

Negotiations should proceed with accelerated dynamics and be closed as soon as possible. Completing the negotiations by 2030 is the goal we set for ourselves. It is real and achievable and I am strongly convinced that by the next enlargement of the Union, Macedonia will be included. We will work dedicatedly for our country to be equal with all other member countries, to participate in the creation of EU policies, of course, with the protection of our state interests. Our future is in the EU. For us, this has no alternative and therefore it is necessary that we all support to get involved, to take advantage of the opportunity that is in front of us and with quick steps and confidently move forward towards full-fledged membership in the EU, Kovacevski pointed out.