Struga, 19 April 2024 (MIA) — Macedonia needs national unity for EU integration instead of national unity for a moratorium, SDSM president Dimitar Kovachevski told an election campaign rally in Struga and urged voters to support the Coalition for European Macedonia.

Commenting on Thursday's speech on Macedonian unity and moratoriums by VMRO-DPMNE's Hristijan Mickovski at an Ohrid rally, Kovachevski said more and more people were realizing that the only moratorium in Mickoski's head was the moratorium on the country's EU integration.

"One option is Mickoski, Siljanovska and DPMNE with a moratorium on the EU, and the other option is SDSM and Stevo Pendarovski, who will not give up on our European future," Kovachevski said.

According to him, VMRO-DPMNE headed by Mickoski was the same VMRO-DPMNE headed by Gruevski for 11 years, which, having captured the state, isolated it from the world.

"They will not make any progress toward the EU, and then they will blame the EU for everything. They are willing to have Macedonia not join the EU for another 100 years," Kovachevski said.

SDSM's main focus, he highlighted, remained the country's EU membership.

He promised a minimum pension of Mden 20,000 and an average pension of Mden 30,000 as well as other financial support for pensioners, recalling the previous increase of pensions by 55 percent.

He said the Coalition for European Macedonia was ready to work night and day toward making the country more prosperous through their new platform for a European future.

"This platform is realistic, doable and there will be no giving up until every item in it becomes our reality," Kovachevski said.

SDSM's Jovan Mitreski and Bisera Kostadinovska Stojchevska also spoke at the rally, presenting parts of the platform.

Mitreski said the state needed to move forward. 

"In Struga, we renovated almost all schools and sports halls and built three new halls. We reconstructed the indoor swimming pool. Tripled the minimum wage. We doubled foreign investments. We increased pensions by over 50 percent. Raised salaries in all sectors.

"But that is not enough. We went through and are going through serious economic consequences amid the COVID crisis, but also from the war in Ukraine. That is why we need the EU. To bring European standards home faster," he said.

Asking Struga residents to vote for the Coalition for European Macedonia in the parliamentary election and for Stevo Pendarovski in the presidential election, Mitreski called on them to unite and not allow the return of those who brought the country to the edge of the abyss, making it into an example of state capture.

Kostadinovska-Stojchevska said that with each step toward the EU, citizens received higher salaries and pensions. She highlighted the importance of staying on the European track and not allowing the return of isolation, uncertainty, missed chances for development and for peaceful coexistence.

"It is true, there are alternatives," she said. "But every one of them spells uncertainty, the regression of democracy, zero chances for development."

She urged voters to vote for "a concrete offer with clear and defined goals for a better life for all citizens" instead of falling prey to tellers of tall tales. mr/