Skopje, 14 March 2024 (MIA) — I wanted to step out of my comfort zone as mayor who still has half a term left and enter the presidential race to change things; I am entering the race to win, not just to take part, ZNAM movement's presidential candidate Maksim Dimitrievski said in a Kanal 5 TV appearance.

"As the president of Macedonia, I will not blindly follow what the legislative and executive branches of government say, but I will implement the laws and I will not let anyone tell me what to do," Dimitrievski said.

He said the country should join the European Union with dignity. One day, he said, it would be an EU member but in the meantime the state needed to find a way to boost the economy. 

The country's success in the EU integration process, he added, would depend on diplomacy, which should be professional and not partisan.

He said ZNAM would run a modest election campaign due to the lack of funding and would not join any coalition in the parliamentary elections. 

Dimitrievski also said the President should be elected in a popular vote, and not in the Parliament, "because of his key role in foreign policy."

He said he had collected the necessary 10,000 signatures to run for President "spontaneously" and most of the signatures were gathered in Kumanovo, where he is mayor. mr/