Skopje, 26 October 2023 (MIA) - The decisions to continue the European integration path should be adopted now through a democratic procedure in our Parliament so that we can join EU by 2030, PM Dimitar Kovachevski said in the Parliament on Thursday.

“As Prime Minister and SDSM leader, as a leading partner in the government coalition, I believe that there are pro-European politicians outside the government coalition in this Parliament, and we will do what is necessary to ensure a European future for the Macedonian citizens,” he noted.

Now the risks are even greater, he added, because the elections for the European Parliament are scheduled for next year, we also see the events of certain countries in our region, but also the geostrategic moment that is happening in Europe with the war that is still raging in Ukraine. This means that if we do not continue, we may remain a country that is currently practically a leader in European integrations, a problematic point together with Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to which maybe someday, the question is if and when the EU will return,” Kovachevski said.

According to him, we should not forget that at this strategic moment the EU needs us, and not only us, because at this moment the stability of the European continent needs to be ensured, and this cannot be done without the Western Balkan countries, which practically represent part of the European Union. Geographically speaking, the Western Balkans are practically surrounded by EU member states,” Kovachevski said.

“In such a situation, if the necessary decisions are not adopted in this Parliament and if the European path is not secured, what message are we actually sending to our strategic partners. First, that irresponsibility will be shown towards the needs of the citizens, who deserve to be European citizens, but in their native country, that the future of young people will be ruined. We will also disappoint the expectations of the international community, which sees North Macedonia as a factor of stability in a geopolitical context. Now is the moment of common interest, when the EU needs us, and we need the EU. That's why the European partners and the USA, according to their words, call it a unique opportunity, unique because it is so,” Kovachevski said at the Q&A session in the Parliament.