I am an optimist, and we will continue to fight, said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski after a series of meetings in Brussels, where he discussed Macedonia’s push to finally open its accession talks.

We will not allow the loss of a milimeter of the Macedonian identity and the Macedonian citizens, regardless of their ethnic background, deserve a guaranteed future. This I heard directly from the most relevant interlocutors for enlargement in the European Commission, Prime Minister Mickoski said during a press conference following his return.

Mickoski said that the Government has a clear plan and strategy in three parts, that includes a robust diplomatic action. “We are looking for solutions, we are presenting our arguments. We expect to hear counter arguments but we are yet to hear some, meaning that the first phase of our plan is realized. In the second phase, it is important to identify whether, by including a few hundred of our citizens in the Constitution, our problems wil lend, or if it’s just the first 10 meters of a 110 meters race. It is already clear that this request is not the problem, but that the problems are yet to come. We will not enter into some adventure without a clear plan and a clear end-sight”, Mickoski said.

The Prime Minister added that the third portion of the plan is for Macedonia to break records in conducting reforms at home. “We need to prove that we are worthy to sit at that table, on the merit, and to deliver. And not to be forced to resolve disputes from the 11th or 12th century”.