Skopje, 25 August 2023 (MIA) – North Macedonia has shown itself to be a true friend to the United States. As a result of that, and the kind of partnership we have in Europe, we want to see in the EU. We are the most enthusiastic supporters of having you, who are already part of the transatlantic community, to be formal members of every part of that community and that includes the European Union, said the U.S. Department of State's Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and Special Representative to the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar at a joint press conference Friday with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski.

In terms of EU enlargement, Escobar noted that the Western Balkans are currently the most promising parts of Europe, adding that they are economically the fastest growing with enormous potential to be a driver of growth to the EU.

“So, Europe needs you and America needs you inside of Europe. So, it is our hope that as your closest strategic partner, as your close friend, as someone who has benefited directly from that partnership, that you can benefit from our partnership as you have to make difficult choices to a brighter future,” said Escobar.

The Deputy Assistant Secretary stated that at the meeting with PM Kovachevski they spoke about various things, including EU enlargement, regional stability and European security.

“In all of that, I can say that we have counted on North Macedonia to be a true friend and true ally to the United States. Over the past couple of years North Macedonia’s helped the United States on Afghanistan, on Ukraine, as Chair of the OSCE, most recently, in helping us achieve a historic agreement between Serbia and Kosovo on normalization that will benefit the whole region. We couldn’t have done that without you, so I really appreciate it. But I do want to mention that on every step of our challenges, American challenges, we’ve counted on North Macedonia and we want North Macedonia to count on us during its own challenges,” said Escobar.

Escobar said the U.S. would like to see the kind of partnership that the two countries have in Europe, “the level of support for the protection of values and the expansion of democracy”, in the EU as well. 

“We are the most enthusiastic supporters of having you, who are already part of the transatlantic community, to be formal members of every part of that community and that includes the European Union,” said Escobar.

Photo: MIA