Skopje, 13 July 2022 (MIA) – Our interest in North Macedonia is very simple. We want prosperity and stability, not because we love you but because we think it is good for us. This is our interest in this country and we think there is no alternative. You should be in NATO, in the EU, this is good for you, good for us, for the Balkans, said Dutch Ambassador Dirk Jan Kop on Wednesday. Ambassador Jan Kop said this is a merit-based process not and what is required is implementation of reforms. “North Macedonia is the master of its own destiny and takes the future in its own hands. This is very much a national decision of North Macedonia. The only thing I can say is ‘Welcome to Europe’ because in the agenda of the EU, all the important issues – Brexit, budget, climate change, refugees and enlargement – we always create ugly compromises. In the end, nobody is happy, it is always a balance of unhappiness,” Ambassador Jan Kop told reporters. According to him, the compromise “will not win a beauty contest” but it definitely the way forward, while saying the implementation of reforms is required at this time. Bulgaria is now holding up the start of the negotiations and this is a problem, but what you want to do is to reach the end of the negotiations when North Macedonia becomes a member. “I am pretty optimistic this will happen because at the end, this should be a highly manageable country of only two million people. What’s the problem, implement the stuff, do the reforms, and that in itself will put you in an excellent negotiating position in these talks in the coming years also towards Bulgaria,” said Jan Kop. On the possibility of Bulgaria blocking every step of the country during the negotiations, the Ambassador said the only thing that matters is that North Macedonia is the start of the negotiations. “The policy of the Union is that bilateral issues should be resolved by the countries themselves and they have no place in the negotiating process. We will monitor this and the Commission has said it will monitor this. So, if we can get some sort of compromise now between you and Bulgaria, this opens the door. To be honest, I am much more interested in the end of the negotiations than the start, because only the end of the negotiations, when you meet the conditions for membership will get you in as a member of the family, with the same rights as Bulgaria. Can in theory one country block this process to the end – yes. Every new negotiating chapter is a new political decision that needs the consensus of all member states. But let’s say, in theory, that in 5-7 years, when you have gone through the process, there is still a problem, you will have become Switzerland. How bad is that,” noted Jan Kop. He said trust in the EU is not the big problem but the trust in the country’s institutions. “The trust in the EU is now 70 or 68 percent but the trust of the people in their own institutions is about ten percent. That is a problem,’ said the Dutch Ambassador.