SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
On Wednesday, PM Hristijan Mickoski said he expected Donald Trump’s victory and second term as President of the US to result in the exceptionally good relations between the citizens of his country and the US being strengthened even more.
Answering a journalist’s question, he said both countries had economic priorities that would continue to be developed. Congratulating US citizens on the democratic election day, the PM stated that they had chosen progress.
“I congratulated not only him [President-elect Trump], but also people that are part of his team,” the PM added. The PM and Trump’s team, the former said, exchanged messages in the morning.
Mickoski also stated Howard Lutnick, who was basically the chief of the transition team, had recently visited the country, adding that he had been standing next to Trump’s family at the press-conference. As Mickoski explained, the transition team consists of five members, including also Vice President-elect JD Vance, Linda McMahon, the President-elect himself, and his son, Donald Trump Jr.
“Lutnick was here. We discussed new projects. He spent a longer period of time. We communicate. We today exchanged a text here and there,” he stated.
Furthermore, Mickoski reiterated that Richard Grenell, former Acting Director of National Intelligence in 2020, during Trump’s first term, Chris Pavlovski, Rumble founder and CEO, Lutnick, and Devin Nunes, former Congress member, had visited the country too.
“We communicated from the background of the event itself, so there’s communication. I expect the good relations, which are exceptional to begin with, to be even strengthened. We have certain economic priorities. I expect those priorities to be solidified even more,” the PM noted, adding that the government had expressed great support for US citizens that had made the right decision in a democratic atmosphere.
Moreover, Mickoski, regarding foreign policy, believes North Macedonia has managed to present itself before its partners in a dignified and well-argued manner. The results, he assessed, are early visible.
“We fought to present ourselves and argue in a dignified manner before our partners on the international scene. I think we’ve managed to do that, with the results being already visible. We’re sitting at the table with the greatest world powers. We were at the table with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, we were at the table also with the former US President, we were at the table with the new President’s closest associates, who came to visit us in Skopje. We talked about the future, about the economy, about projects that are more of 22nd-century ones,” he stressed.
The PM described the meeting with Trump’s associates as a huge chance.
“Today, we saw those same people, who were here several months ago with us, shoulder to shoulder with the newly-elected President of the US. Those are the people that will be in his closest surrounding, from his administration, a chance in history that generations will perhaps never have. We therefore must use that the right way and in a dignified manner so that we can defend what our predecessors had sold for seven years before we came to power,” the PM underlined.
