Washington, 24 August 2023 (MIA) – The United States Deputy Assistant Secretary, Gabriel Escobar, is hoping for productive and shared discussions with the country’s leaders during his visit to North Macedonia, the U.S. Department of State told the Voice of America in Macedonia, when asked to comment on the opposition’s reaction to the visit.

“Escobar is visiting North Macedonia in order to talk about bilateral and regional issues and to continue strengthening our partnership with a valued NATO ally. He hopes for productive and shared discussions with the country’s leaders during his visit, especially related to the future EU integration and the long-term prosperity of the Western Balkans,” said the State Department.

VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski said Wednesday that “the fact that the Government is now trying to paint Escobar’s visit as a ‘diplomatic bulldozer’ called by the Government to carry out torture and put pressure is a weakness of these criminals in the Government. No one uses pressure and torture in the 21st century anymore, and if they do, then they’ve chosen the wrong people to talk to.”

Mickoski added that he sees Escobar’s visit as any other visit.

“Recently we’ve had a lot of visits from foreign high representatives. We will hear their arguments, we will state our arguments. We can approximately guess the contents of the meeting, so any well-intentioned interlocutor is welcome, anyone who wants to hear the arguments of the coalition led by VMRO-DPMNE and the people, is welcome,” said Mickoski.

Gabriel Escobar is set to meet with President Stevo Pendarovski on Thursday in Skopje, and is also expected to hold meetings with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski and VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski.

Escobar’s visit to Skopje comes after the beginning of the parliamentary procedure for the adoption of the constitutional amendments adding the Bulgarians to the Constitution, as a prerequisite for the continuation of North Macedonia’s EU accession talks and the holding of the second intergovernmental conference.

Photo: MIA Archive