Skopje, 3 September 2022 (MIA) – Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski has reiterated there is no alternative to the European Union accession of North Macedonia, as is the case with Albania and Serbia, although the 17-year process has hurt the Union’s credibility in North Macedonia. “In July, North Macedonia finally held the first Intergovernmental Conference and the first screening meeting, and we already have a schedule for the bilateral screening that is set to launch on September 15. In the coming days, the country will officially promote its negotiating structure for the bilateral screening, with teams already assembled at the Secretariat for European Affairs,” says PM Kovachevski in an interview with RTS. In time, he adds, the EU credibility will be restored since the process has already begun and because a number of experts, institutions and NGOs will be involved in the negotiating process. According to the PM, if one looks at the statements of the EU officials, the enlargement process has never been in doubt. “I share this opinion because EU is not complete without the Western Balkans, we are an inherent part of the EU, we share the same values and our citizens are EU citizens in every aspect. North Macedonia probably experienced the most difficult path towards starting the negotiations,” says Kovachevski. He says North Macedonia has a clear roadmap for its EU accession, with certain issues and dilemmas in the negotiating framework cleared up, including a clear Macedonian language, guaranteed identity of the Macedonian people, whereas historical issues are part of the work of the historical commission and not part of the negotiating process. “Our task on this path, as in fact many other countries, is the constitutional adjustment by involving parts of other nations living in our country – Croatian, Montenegrin, Bulgarian, but also others such as the Jewish – that have expressed desire to be part of the Constitution,” says Kovachevski. We are, he underlines, a multicultural, multiconfessional, multiethnic society and I have always said that North Macedonia is Europe in a nutshell. The Union is a community of diversities and North Macedonia is a country where all communities and citizens, regardless of their background, have equal opportunities for personal and professional development.