Skopje, 4 April 2024 (MIA) — The country is at a crossroads: One road leads to a bright European future and the other leads to isolation, hopelessness and uncertainty, which is why these elections are not ordinary elections but a popular vote that will decide the country's future, current Foreign Minister and the European Front coalition's presidential candidate Bujar Osmani told a press conference Thursday.

"I have come directly to this press conference from Brussels, from the NATO headquarters, on a special day: the fourth day of the fourth month of 2024, the day NATO was founded, and on the fourth anniversary of North Macedonia's NATO membership," Osmani said, adding that he was also number 4 on the ballot, which he interpreted as a symbol that "we are on the right path."

He said he would lead a winning election campaign under the slogan "Experience, Honesty, Dedication."

"I am starting this mission from the headquarters of NATO with the hope that I will finish it as President in the EU headquarters, sitting at the table of the European Council as a full member," Osmani said.

Thanks to the privilege he had been given by voters to be part of the country's key integration processes, Osmani said, he now had the necessary experience, contacts, and credibility within decision-making centers, as well as the dedication, to fulfill "the dream of a bright, safe, European future for every family, every citizen."

"I am backed by the largest multi-ethnic European Front, a coalition of nine parties, a new platform that emerged from the Framework Agreement," Osmani said.

He added that the coalition's goal was to maintain the country's Euro-Atlantic course as well as interethnic harmony and good neighborly relations. "And, of course, to complete the European integration path so North Macedonia becomes a member of the European Union by 2030," Osmani said. 

"Join us. My invitation is to all citizens. Today we start this winning campaign traveling to the four sides of the country, to hear citizens requests and expectations and of course to present my plans of how the country will become an EU member in the next five years so citizens can have a bright, European, and safe future," Osmani said.

The press conference was attended by representatives of the youth wings of the political parties in the European Front coalition, led by DUI. mr/