Skopje, 3 June 2022 (MIA) – It’s a key decision now to send a clear message with a brave decision on the Western Balkans as to how to move on after June, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said addressing the GLOBSEC Forum in Bratislava at a panel titled “Now or Never: Unlocking the European Future for Western Balkans”. “The EU now has two problems with one of them involving decisions on the Western Balkans – if no decision is made, the credibility will drop and once it drops, nationalism will start to rise, and we don’t want to see that. Also, the process for Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine will be likely be very different, which is evident from the statements of EU’s presidency, as they still lack the capacity to open negotiations to join the EU,” Kovachevski said. The EU accession process, he noted, was supposed to be a merit-based process. “In our case, 45 percent of the legislation has been aligned. If we compared the country with others that have been negotiating with the Union, we fare much better in different chapters,” the PM said adding that five consecutive reports of the European Commission were positive. The problem is that the merit-based process is a typical political process, Kovachevski said. “Due to EU’s decision-making process, a country can block the accession bids of a candidate country, which is what North Macedonia is experiencing now. It is done exclusively on political bases and due to political reasons,” he said mentioning his country has been a candidate country for 17 years. Due to the new geo-political developments in Europe, according to the PM, the EU should consider maintaining its credibility and importance in the Western Balkans. “If this is a merit-based system, then it should be applied for all countries.” “I’m aware that there has to be a clear vision regarding Ukraine and Georgia and Moldova, because these countries want a democratic society and to be able to create their future. We all have to support this. Both North Macedonia and the region have shown that we support Ukraine and its people,” stated Kovachevski. PM Kovachevski noted that the Open Balkan initiative is “practical implantation and a platform on how to implement the four freedoms.” Asked whether the EU and the United States have a functioning partnership, he said that although North Macedonia is not EU member, the country fully aligned with the EU foreign policy. “The United States is a strategic partner of the region, including North Macedonia over the past 30 years since declaring independence. The countries in former Yugoslavia had undergone changes of its political and economic system and in the process of reconstruction and rebuilding trust in the region, the United States played a key role,” Kovachevski responded.