Everyone is missing the point in the debate about Macedonia’s chances to join the EU soon, and that is that Macedonia needs a deserved membership, not a charity, VMRO-DPMNE Vice-Chair and MP, Aleksandar Nikolovski points out in his op-ed for the weekly Focus.

“If we read carefully both speeches (Emmanuel Macron’s and Charles Michel’s), a common thread appears, and that is the requirement of standards which, regretfully, Macedonia doesn’t have, especially regarding the rule of law. A highly corrupt country will never become an EU member. No one will move even a finger to tell Bulgaria to stop on behalf of a highly corrupt country. To the contrary! Hence, the major battle for the next government led by VMRO-DPMNE will be a fierce fight against organized crime and corruption”, Nikolovski wrote in his op-ed.