Skopje, 9 October 2024 (MIA) – We have to know what the government’s plan is, if there is any, how we will resume the EU integration process, SDSM leader Venko Filipche said Wednesday in Skopje.

The opposition leader said all mechanisms will be used, including convening a parliament session, so as to get an answer from the prime minister involving the country’s EU accession process. 

We, he said, have been demonstrating constructiveness over the resumption of the EU integration path of the country, unfortunately, the prime minister is yet to provide us with an answer. 

“Our idea for a parliamentary session was offered because the legislative house is the place where decisions are made,” said Filipche following his last week’s call for a closed session to be scheduled in which the future steps in the EU integration process will be revealed.

“The prime minister has announced many times some kind of support from some countries about the changing of the negotiating framework that would allegedly improve the position of our country in the EU integration process, however, it is all wrapped up in secrecy and we don’t know any details. The prime minister is obliged to reveal it before the elected lawmakers and the citizens. After unilaterally halting the EU integration process, he has to do something that is expected by the majority of citizens,” Filipche told reporters. 

Asked about the proposed bill on compensation of veterans and the statement by a SDSM spokesperson that the soldiers of the so-called Liberation National Army might be included in the amended legislation, Filipche said that the spokesperson’s statement was badly interpreted.

“It is a legislation that will meet the demands of all injured veterans or the families of killed members of the armed forces and police. We expect all political parties in Parliament to overcome party interests and the law to pass in Parliament,” the SDSM leader said. 

Filipche alongside Centar Municipality Mayor Goran Gerasimovski attended the unveiling of a bust of Kiro Gligorov, the first president of independent Macedonia, at a Skopje elementary school named after the late president. 

Photo/video: MIA