Today the President of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacheski, had his regular brief with the ambassadors of the EU member-states attended also by the Deputy Head of the Mission of EU to our country, Julian Vassallo.
At the meeting President Kovacheski reflected on most urgent issues related to the EU integration process of the Republic of North Macedonia in line with the current security crisis concerning the war in Ukraine.
“We are going through dramatic times due to the tragic developments in Ukraine and the brutal aggression of Russia towards another European country which so far resulted in numerous victims, misery and pain among its citizens. Our thoughts today are with our Ukrainian friends who deserve our greatest attention, support and engagement”, said Kovacheski.
It was jointly concluded that the Union demonstrates unity in its values, unity in its objective and unity in its action.
North Macedonia is on the same line of EU’s foreign policy especially regarding the sanctions, but also the participation in humanitarian aid. North Macedonia being a credible candidate country joined to and shared its responsibility by aligning 100% EU’s policies as a response to the Russian military aggression.
The late EU integration process to North Macedonia is a source of systemic vulnerability the effects of which spill over the entire region while malicious actors easily and skillfully exploit it. In times when the international order founded on rules is shattered, EU’s hesitation towards those who invest enormous social energy to adhere to the European rules, standards and values is something we together cannot afford. Therefore it is imperative to have the first intergovernmental conferences and start accession negotiations with both North Macedonia and Albania now, during the French EU presidency.
“If nothing happens until June the very political momentum will suffer. Many times throughout talks with European colleagues I hear the argument for the importance of the election cycles. Political support, as everywhere, is as important to you as it is to us. Then why risk losing a committed partner ready to do the right thing? What message sends this to the other countries and people from the Western Balkan? What follows will be the commitment of a small multi-ethnic country, in the heart of the Balkan, to compete equally on the playing field and to prove that it is worthwhile to join the family of the European Union based on its own deeds.
It takes little to kick the ball in the right direction and to achieve a common victory for North Macedonia, for the Western Balkan, for Bulgaria and for the EU as a whole. These are very uncertain times and we all bear responsibility to quickly close the agreement and to allow normality in the EU integration process”, added Prime Minister Kovacheski.
