President Gordana Sljanovska Davkova said in an interview with TV21 that she expected the EU to have a clear strategy on Skopje, too, following the decoupling decision.
North Macedonia, in her view, shouldn’t be proving that it has always been part of Europe and that it’s compatible.
“Whether in the frames of the Berlin Process, whether in the frames of what follows now, I want the EU to truly manifest a clear strategy on us. I hope a consistent policy on enlargement will be created, with respect for the Copenhagen criteria,” the President stressed.
Asked how the country would join the EU, she said, “That will first and foremost happen by working on the rule of law. Mercilessly fighting corruption and crime is the most important rule of law proof. Ours will happen with European standards in education, healthcare, social protection”.
Regarding the issue of good-neighbourliness, she stated that the neighbourhood too, not only Skopje, should manifest that. As far as the negotiating framework is concerned, she stressed that it was clear it wouldn’t be changed.
However, she added that she’d told everyone she’d met in the frames of UNGA 79 that considering they said “pacta sunt servanda [agreements must be kept]” regarding the Prespa Agreement, they should read well what “Macedonia meant to the second side – this nameless territory people, with its own history, culture, and language”, adding that Skopje and Sofia held talks on those three topics.