European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Macedonia today, and expressed hope that the country will be able to open the first chapter of the EU accession talks soon. Von der Leyen insisted that Macedonia belongs to the European Union, and she called on the country to do the constitutional changes that the previous Government agreed to make – which will include the Bulgarian minority in the Preamble of the Constitution.

Macedonia has achieved much and you have shown determination in the taking of every step. I really want to praise Macedonia and acknowledge the people, and now the work needs to be continued. I want to acknowledge the fact that you are 100 percent aligned with our foreign and security policy and to thank you for the support for Ukraine. We have many areas where we have excellent cooperation and I really want to thank you for all of that, President Von der Leyen said.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said that the meeting was of major importance, and that Macedonia will continue to focus on its EU integration.

We remain firmly committed as a Government to our path to full fledged EU membership. Our vision is clear – we want to be part of the European family, sharing the same values of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights. My Government appreciates the commitment of the EC President toward EU enlargement in the shortest possible time. We expect hat the EU, along with us, helps find ways how we can continue our European integration path, while acknowledging the legitimate positions of our citizens that, in the future, we should not face demands that are in deep contradiction with the ideas and values the EU rests upon, Prime Minister Mickoski said in his remarks during the press conference.