Skopje, 26 September 2024 (MIA) - Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Thursday that even during his visit to Brussels it was hinted that Albania will likely begin negotiations and decouple from the country, noting that this sends a bad message to the Macedonian citizens, since, he said, the country has done many things on its path to EU integration, which most of the time have nothing to do with the Copenhagen Criteria.  

Mickoski wished Albania success and a swift conclusion to the accession talks, adding that “perhaps our paths will cross again on this trajectory to full-fledged EU membership”.

“Ours is the only case in which bilateral agreements are conditions in the negotiating framework. I regret the fact the previous Government accepted everything, waved the European flag while robbing its own people. I share the sentiment of a great majority of Macedonian citizens that we shouldn’t have any more national concessions, concessions related to the identity, and accepted conditions without guarantees,” Mickoski told journalists when quizzed about Albania beginning EU negotiations on the first cluster on October 15.

The Prime Minister said the current state of affairs regarding the country’s accession is a “dictate” and that he conveyed his position at the meetings in Brussels.

“For me this is a dictate, if this is the condition for Macedonia to continue negotiations then, I said this in Brussels too, – no, thank you. These are not the European values that my generation fell in love with, the values defined by Adenauer, De Gasperi and Schuman. That’s why I brought up the idea, let’s talk, don’t condition us with a dictate, I would like to discuss this for as long as it is necessary to find a solution. Obviously, we don’t have a solution right now,” Mickoski stressed.

Mickoski said the principle of “pacta sund servanda” should also apply for the Treaty of Friendship, Good-Neighbourliness and Cooperation with Bulgaria, as it does for the Prespa Agreement.

“Despite the criticism, as the new Government, we accepted the Prespa Agreement. If this principle applies to that Agreement, then the EU and Brussels should accept ‘pacta sund servanda’ for the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness as well, which doesn’t include a condition that we must change the Constitution anywhere. It doesn’t say that anywhere, as a matter of fact it states that Bulgaria should support us and aid us. When we speak of delayed implementation, we mean that we are ready to accept the amendments to the Constitution after a successful conclusion of talks and a ratification of the pre-accession protocol, and this isn’t any different from the Prespa Agreement,” Mickoski said.

The Prime Minister drew a parallel with the constitutional amendments from the Prespa Agreement, highlighting the fact that they entered into force after Greece ratified the pre-accession protocol for the country’s membership into NATO and said this should apply to the EU as well.

“We will complete the procedure, we have 80 MPs, but the amendments that we pass should be valid and enter into effect once Bulgaria ratifies the pre-accession protocol for our EU membership,” Mickoski said.

Asked if Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is set to arrive on a two-day visit to the country on Thursday, can help the country’s process since Hungary currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, Mickoski didn’t give a direct answer, instead he noted that there have been enough double standards and reiterated that this has nothing to do with the European values.

Regarding the possibility of a potential destabilization of the country following the decoupling, Mickoski said such attempts can happen even if the countries aren’t decoupled on their EU path.

“If someone has decided to destabilize the security situation in a NATO member state, as a country we will respond appropriately. We won’t allow someone to destabilize the country,” the Prime Minister said. 

Photo: Screenshot