PM Mickoski in Interview with RFE Macedonian

In an interview with RFE Macedonian, PM Hristijan Mickoski, asked about European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s message about the constitutional changes during her visit to Skopje and whether his proposal for the changes to enter into force once the country entered the EU had been rejected, said, “Let’s give time time. Let’s first exhaust this step and then talk about the next ones,” he pointed out.

The PM added that he was convinced that an ultimatum and diktat were not a solution. There should be talks, he stressed, until as he underlined, a lose-lose solution is found.

“It’s not good if one side loses everything and the other wins. That’s not a compromise. In fact, the so-called French proposal was that way,” Mickoski underlined, saying that his country was only asking for the EU to respect its own principles and values.

In response to the comments from the interviewer, Sanja Vasic, that he expected a response from the European Commission and that that would however require Bulgarian support, the PM stated that he was ready to talk to everybody with honest and good intentions in order for the problem to be solved because EU integration was the country’s goal.

“However, I am convinced that we deserved that much earlier, even before some other EU members. Unfortunately, due to the injustice inflicted on Macedonian citizens and on us, as a country, we cannot even start negotiations today. This is not a race in which one should only participate. We’ve now reached a position in which when we start the race, we should clearly know that we will finish that race, not that we will trip again at some of the next hurdles, and decades, humiliations, and so on will be required again. I am not such a conversation partner. I am a conversation partner that, yes, I am ready to compromise, but provided that that compromise means delivery, that is, an end, in our case, that end will imply full-fledged EU membership,” Mickoski stressed.

Asked how big Russia’s influence in political events in North Macedonia was, the PM stated that he wouldn’t say there was Russian influence here.

“Historically speaking, we, as a people, have never been among Russian diplomacy’s top priorities,” Mickoski emphasised. Even though North Macedonia is on Russia’s list of unfriendly countries, the PM said his country was a NATO member and its foreign policy was fully aligned with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.

“I would say more that politicians from the region who, instead of looking at the future, are taking us back to the Middle Ages when they put ultimatums and diktats on the table, even though we’re talking about European values, about a future. I would say they have a greater influence on a sense being created here that we’ve been betrayed by European values,” Mickoski stressed, adding that he was referring to some Bulgarian politicians lately.

Regarding the presidential election in the US, asked whether who would win made a difference, the PM’s stand is that strategically speaking, whoever wins will have the Balkans through their optics.

“So, I don’t see in this regard that some more dramatic changes will happen towards the Balkans,” Mickoski noted.

Regarding the opposition’s accusations over the appointment of Bojan Hristovski as the Director of the National Agency for Security, the PM dismissed them again. Regarding the Judicial Council, asked whether he finally had a proposal to reform the body, he said he hadn’t received proposals.

“Now, I’m doing my own homework because the situation is already cataclysmic. I’m starting to communicate with international, European experts, to consult with some of them. I already have agreed on a meeting on Saturday. They will travel to our place and we will discuss the topic because Macedonian citizens are obviously dissatisfied with how prosecutors and judges function. After that meeting, the team will be known. They’re talking to me and to the Justice Minister, but also to other related actors, so we’ll see,” he noted, adding that there would very soon be a solution.