Prilep, 15 April 2024 (MIA) — Identity is not tied to history or culture, but to principles and values, so it is European to remind the European Union of its fundamental values and principles – let them behave accordingly so we can believe in our future in the EU, presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska Davkova said at a Prilep election rally on Monday evening.

"The European Union is superior through respecting European values and principles. We lack something, and that is constitutional patriotism. This does not mean to swear by the Constitution and it also does not mean we should keep changing it – but that we should defend the principles and values of the Constitution," Siljanovska Davkova said.

She said the EU integration process needed to bring European living standards onto Macedonian soil and "not just EU and NATO commitments, pro-Europeans, anti-Europeans."

"The President must, before any important decision for Macedonia, first come before Parliament, agree with the opposition, with all coalition partners; after having previously agreed with the Government," she said.

A head of state, Siljanovska Davkova said, needed to have public offices where they could hear the problems of the citizens and their suggestions.

The President, she said, had to have young people advising them and also an important obligation in building an independent judiciary through the Judicial Council.

"The situation we are in is far from European, far from European standards. There is no rule of law, but a rule of a small group of people," she said.

Citing a Freedom House evaluation that said the country had "a cyclical hybrid regime going round and round," VMRO-DPMNE's presidential candidate said the judiciary was dependent, politicized and partisan and the Constitutional Court did not uphold the Constitution and laws.

"We have weak institutions and too strong individuals," she said. "Responsible people must come. If you ask me what I can do, I will tell you: What the President did not," Siljanovska Davkova said.

She also said she was ready for a presidential debate but "there are no candidates for a debate."

"They keep announcing it, but they never show up before responsible reporters," Siljanovska Davkova said. mr/