Skopje, 15 April 2024 (MIA) — Us being here in such large numbers confirm this is not a VMRO-dominated municipality as some think but a municipality of citizens who want to see their country, Macedonia, become a part of developed and prosperous Europe as soon as possible, President Stevo Pendarovski said at a reelection rally in Gazi Baba on Monday evening.

"There is no turning back. With this many of you, with this enthusiasm, with a mass turnout on April 24 and May 8, we expect nothing less, nothing less, than two victories," Pendarovski said.

If reelected, he said, he would carry out his presidential duties as before. 

"The Macedonian public has had the opportunity to see what the President of Macedonia was doing in the past five years. Was he like some who previously hid in Villa Vodno and we didn't know if they even showed up to work? Or was he among his own people every day? 

"Thousands of people have come to my office, complained about their problems, asked for help in solving them. I was not closed off, I was not isolated," Pendarovski said.

He also highlighted the success of the Prespa Agreement with Greece for the country's membership in NATO. 

"When we tried to do the same with the EU, unfortunately, we ran into a double blockade. The first blockade was by our eastern neighbor who tried to make us into what we have never been," Pendarovski said. 

"We all know," he continued, "that we have been Macedonians for centuries, speaking the Macedonian language.

"And a blockade on the inside, which I find worse because it comes from the main opposition political party."

He also commented on the opposition party's statements that they would cancel and renegotiate all agreements. 

"What international factor is your friend, a strategic partner who can give you a guarantee, a wind at your back, that you will reach a better agreement for Macedonia? Dear friends, they do not have a single strategic partner that we have not already secured, that is not already on our side," the President said.

According to him, the only hope for young people was allying with the West.

"None of these young people who move from Macedonia go to Russia, Belarus or China. They seek their fortune in America, Germany, Canada or New Zealand. All developed countries economically, and all of them great economies. The best universities are there, the best health systems are there, the most independent legal systems are there," Pendarovski said. 

"We want to be there so we can be like them, not to get their money but their knowledge, principles and values based on which we will organize our Macedonia to look like an average European, developed and prosperous country. That is why it is the only option," he added. mr/