Skopje, 31 August 2025 (MIA) — Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski keeps asking for constructive cooperation but refuses to accept it, SDSM leader Venko Filipche said Sunday in response to a reporter asking him to comment on Mickoski's rejection of his proposal for a joint parliamentary resolution on protecting national interests.

"I truly regret that the prime minister keeps asking for constructiveness and then rejects any proposal. Whether this is part of their pre-election folklore or not, considering their last year's campaign, I can't say, but the fact is that nothing is happening regarding our European integration while the region is moving forward," Filipche said.

He said both Albania and Montenegro were making great strides "with an already concrete plan to complete their negotiations by 2027 or 2028" whereas "we have practically abandoned our negotiations." 

"And that is the worst thing that can happen to us," Filipche said at the unveiling of a mural on the 40th anniversary of the "Bushava azbuka" (The Unruly Alphabet") children's TV show.

The SDSM leader said his party was drafting a proposal on how to make some progress in the country's accession process to the EU "so that everyone at one table finally knows what we are talking about and how to move forward," he said.

The working draft of the document included all of the country's undertaken obligations as well as "clearly defined red lines" and SDSM would submit it next week, Filipche said.

"What is happening now is just a waste of time," he said, adding that this led to rising public disappointment over the stalled negotiations with the EU. 

The opposition leader also said more and more young people were planning their future out of the country and the state was "losing funds because the reform agenda is not being implemented, especially in the area of ​​the judiciary." 

"The state has lost around 80 million euros because not a single law that was needed in line with the Growth Plan has been submitted by the Ministry of Justice," Filipche said. mr/