In Thursday’s interview with MTV1, from New York, asked whether he had received the invitation to the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President through “private channels”, from a specialized agency, and whether it had cost a lot, PM Hristijan Mickoski said the invitation was not the most important thing, stressing that what mattered the most was the investments the visit would result in. As he added, the benefits of the US visit are yet to be announced.
“You see, I follow events domestically. I find what the opposition’s doing understandable. It wants the invitation to be the topic of this visit. However, the essence of the visit is yet to be being seen by them in the period ahead”, the PM stressed.
Regarding the visit, the PM underlined that a message had been sent that the government intended to strengthen relations between Skopje and Washington even more and to an even higher level.
Asked about the Greek Foreign Ministry’s reaction to his comments earlier that the Macedonian question was still unresolved, he said he was surprised, adding that nobody had been mentioned in the comments.
“My goal and message are clear. As the PM, it would be irresponsible and treasonous towards the Macedonian people and Macedonian citizens for me to say that the Macedonian question is closed in conditions where we’re not even part of the European family even though we had started the road a lot earlier than perhaps some members that are there did. That’s a question that remains open”, the PM noted.
Also regarding the EU path, Mickoski’s stand is that he’s ready to talk to anyone and anywhere so that a solution to unblock the integration process is found. However, he said that that solution should be a lasting, not instant, one, which would later on enable dignified negotiations until the end.
Regarding his meetings with Richard Grenell, Trump’s former intelligence chief, who’s been picked as presidential envoy for special missions, and Alexander Kasanof, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Balkans, the PM stated that he had never met an unbiased diplomat without sympathies for what the Macedonian people and their country had done in the name of EU integration.