Skopje, 30 August 2023 (MIA) – In his address at Wednesday's public forum titled "EU for the Macedonian Economy", which launched the “We Are Europe” campaign in Skopje, Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi focused on the benefits of membership in the European Union, which he referred to as an "economic miracle". 

That economic miracle, he noted, does not allow for 10 or 20 individuals to hold the economy of a country for 10, 20, or 40 years. There are such individuals, he said, in Russia and other eastern countries, as well as in our country "until 2017, before the government changed".

Young people are leaving the country because with their ideas, Bekteshi stressed, they cannot be competitive with the domestic 10 to 15 oligarchs who have remained unchanged since 1991, and each of whom covers over 90 percent from the market of a sector for 30 years.  

This puts off young people, they find it impossible to realize their visions and ideas, and they leave the country. But the European Union, the Minister noted, has anti-monopoly mechanisms and reforms. 

"EU policies provide equal opportunities, no matter who for. In the EU, development is built only through competitiveness and with equal opportunities for all, there is no discrimination against any citizen. That is the way to keep young people in the country," said Bekteshi.  

Irena Jakimova from the bed linen production company "Comfy Angel", which exports to the European market, spoke about the experiences of cooperation with the EU.

Finance Think's Blagica Petrevska said that joining the EU can improve the economic aspects, and the emigration of young people will be prevented if they have certainty and stability.

Photo: MIA