Skopje, 5 December 2024 (MIA) - I am optimistic, and we will continue to fight. We won’t allow the Macedonian identity and citizens to lose even an inch, regardless of ethnicity, because we all deserve a guaranteed future, said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski in answer to a journalist’s question about his meetings with the new leadership in Brussels.

At the press conference Mickoski said the Government has a clear plan and a strategy composed of three stages, which, he said, they have been implementing for six months now. The first stage of the strategy, according to the PM, is presenting the Government’s positions and arguments.

The PM said he had a successful meeting with the new Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, and expects that she will visit Skopje soon.

“An integral part of our strategy is a robust, diplomatic action through which we will convey our positions and arguments. I had a bilateral meeting with Marta Kos, who is the new Commissioner for Enlargement. We had a very successful, meaningful meeting, I invited her to visit Skopje and I think this will happen very soon,” Mickoski said.

Mickoski said he also spoke to the new President of the European Council, António Costa, as well as the Director-General of the Directorate-General Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG-NEAR), Gert Jan Koopman.

“We are looking for solutions, we are presenting our arguments. For all our arguments, we expect counterarguments. So far, we haven’t received counterarguments, which means the first stage of the plan has already been realized,” the PM added.

In the second stage, he said they would present “the real truth”.

“Now in the second stage of the plan it is very important to determine whether the inclusion of a few hundred of our citizens within the Constitution would put an end to our problems, or whether these are just the initial ten meters of this 110-meter race. It is already clear to us that this isn’t the only problem, but that the problems are yet to come. We won’t embark on any adventure without having a clear plan that gives us a glimpse of the end. We also had a very constructive dinner, during which the other Western Balkan leaders were present as well, organized by Antonio Costa. I think there is a new team that is getting introduced to our arguments, to our positions, and we will continue to fight because we are right,” Mickoski said.

In the third stage, Mickoski said the Government would solve its domestic issues.

“The third stage is to break records domestically. To solve our domestic issues, to prove that we deserve a seat on the table, on the basis of the merit approach, i.e., based on how much we are delivering and not whether we should be solving issues from the 11th or 12th century as a condition for our development in the 21st and 22nd century... We won’t be naive, we don’t have concessions, we haven’t promised anything, all we want is an honest approach,” Mickoski underlined. 

Photo: Government