When asked whether Macedonia can join the EU without the name change, which VMRO-DPMNE resisted, the party leader Hristiajn Mickoski told “Vecernji List” that Macedonia “can’t expect to join the EU with the current level of crime, or the bureaucratic procedures that block the system – I say, we need to do our homework and we will become a desirable EU partner”.

In the interview, Mickoski dismissed allegations coming from SDSM that his party allegedly turns toward Russia. “From its founding, VMRO-DPMNE has been a pro-Western party, and we draw our origin to 1893, when we fought for a free Republic, at a time when others in the region pursued monarchies. I was educated and worked in Western universities in Germany and Italy. This claim of our Eatern ties is fabricated by the current Government, to try to cover up their own failures”.