VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski said that Macedonia should not give up on its EU membership, but that the goal of opening EU accession talks should not be sought at any price, especially not at the price of the Macedonian national identity.

We should not give up on the European Union, but we should also not be on our knees. Not at any price, not if it costs us our existence and our identity. In that case, we don’t share the same values with this partner. I would never deny the right of my neighbor to his self-identification, to his unique culture and separate identity, Mickoski said.

The interview comes a day ahead of the planned visit of Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov to Macedonia.