Skopje, 26 March 2025 (MIA) – The Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU) opened Wednesday its annual session with a moment of silence in honour of the victims of the nightclub fire in Kochani with MANU President Zhivko Popov offering condolences on his personal behalf and on the behalf of the MANU members to the families of the victims.

“In these moments of grief, there is something bright – the timely and competent reaction of the health system and the state institutions, primarily the Interior Ministry and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which demonstrated capacity to react adequately in difficult moments. This gives hope that this country, if it keeps changing in this manner, should expect a much brighter future,” said Popov.

In an extensive speech one year after being elected, the MANU head warned about widespread partisation of the institutions and “decades-long absence of rule of law and corruption in the system”, which as he said, “has led to a devastated country with non-functioning institutions.”

“As a result, several massive incidents happened, including the great tragedy in Kochani. We need to fully support the energetic efforts of the state institutions to undergo changes. I believe it is possible to restart the state system and at least to restore them to pre-independence levels. It would be a huge success. With this setup of the institutions, the Republic of Macedonia will find it very hard to deal with the challenges emerging with the opening of EU accession chapters,” said Popov.Z

According to him, partisation of the society had led to a flawed judicial system. “It’s true that the judiciary has undergone several reforms, but their implementation is weak. What has come under public backlash are the Judicial Council and the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors,” Popov said adding the former failing to be strong and convincing enough to enforce its decisions.

Calling the health system “ruined”, Popov said it suffered a blow after the Law on the Faculty of Medicine was cancelled, which had led to the clinical complex being disintegrated. “It is necessary the clinics to be joined in a single clinical complex,” he urged.

Touching upon equal representation and the law on the use of languages, Popov in his annual address said “it is time to make them clearer to include legal mechanisms preventing them from being misused.”

Mentioning declining demographics, he said “depopulation is a serious challenge in the Republic of Macedonia. “If comprehensive measures are not taken, it will become more evident in the coming decades.”

On the country’s foreign policy and its positioning in the world’s new political constellation, Popov said “we must react wisely and on time.”

The country’s EU integration prospects are completely blocked by the irrational dispute with our neighbours, he said praising the government for “improving our relations with the US administration led by President Trump.”

“This gives the majority of the Macedonian people hope that it could get political support in solving the bilateral dispute with Bulgaria and in improving relations with Brussels. The Republic of Macedonia cannot be spared by the consequences from the Ukraine war and it has to find its safe place in the world, as witnessed by the government’s diplomatic efforts to make sure the country is supported by several strategic partners, which can only benefit the country,” the MANU President said noting: “The European path is the only right and real option for us because we are, first and foremost, Europeans and the European Union is well aware that the European continent will never be complete without the Western Balkans.”

Photo: MIA