Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski announced that the Government and the MANU academy will prepare a long term strategy for development of the country, that will cover education, demographics, agriculture, economic development, infrastructure, energy and all other essential national areas.

Macedonia needs a long term strategy for development based on our own power. I’ve believed it for a long time and now is the time to reveal the start of this serious project, Mickoski said during his remarks on the Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle.

The strategy will map out development priorities for Macedonia until 2050, and will be presented to the other political parties to be accepted by consensus. “The Academy and its scientific minds were sadly marginalized and focused only on their work and scientific goals, but now we need them to help plan our goals and priorities”, Mickoski added.

According to the Prime Minister, the long term strategy will curb the practice of making decisions based on the ignorance or greed of the politicians, and would prevent repeating strategic errors from the past. “It would be even worse if we don’t correct the mistakes that we know acknowledge were made”, Mickoski said, urging the Macedonian Academy to work with the state and to win its deserved place in the administration of the country – this at a time when Albanian parties are calling for the creation of a separate Albanian academy in Macedonia.

As the main burning issue, Prime Minister Mickoski pointed to the demographic changes, saying that estimates show Macedonia losing 400,000 citizens by 2050. “How can a country function with such disproportion of its population, not to mention that half of those who remain will work in the public administration. Who will maintain such a country?”