Skopje, 12 September 2023 (MIA) - The constitutional changes may be painful, but they are necessary, and therefore I would like to encourage my distinguished colleagues here in the Parliament, and also the Government, to do their utmost best to bring the country back on the European track, German Bundestag Foreign Policy Committee chairman Michael Roth said Tuesday in Skopje. 

"We need more ambition for the accession talks. North Macedonia plays a very important role as a multiethnic, multireligious and multicultural country. I would like to motivate my colleagues here that it's worth it to be more engaged in fight against corruption, independence of judiciary, strengthening the rule of law and democratic culture in the country. The necessary reforms are not just an obligation for the Government, they are also an obligation for the parliamentarians," Roth said ahead of Tuesday's conference "Enhancing Berlin Process through Parliamentary Diplomacy", taking place in the Parliament.

Problems, says Roth, are not to be solved with land swaps or with ethnic clenasing, but respectful cooperation, friendship, reconciliation between different ethnicities is possible. 

"I extremely appreciate that so many people here in this country do believe in the future of this country in the united Europe. But, war is back in Europe. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is not just a threat for the people in Eastern Europe, it's a threat for all of us. I would like to send a very simple message - yes, we are very much occupied by this war, but it doesn't mean that we forget the important role the Western Balkan states, including Macedonia, play for the future of Europe," Michael Roth said. 

The German Bundestag Foreign Policy Committee chairman has arrived in Skopje as part of international diplomatic efforts to open North Macedonia's European path and implement the constitutional amendments as a condition for making progress towards the EU. On Tuesday, Roth will hold meetings with Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi, representatives of the Government and VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski.