Skopje, 3 October 2023 (MIA) - Clear signals have been coming over North Macedonia's EU accession. It is up to us to make a decision. For the first time on record, the blockade is coming from within. That is why we need to unite in a European front in order to take the required decisions to bring the country into the EU, says Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski.

"I have talked to the German Chancellor, the French President, the European Council President, and the European Commission President, and they all have given clear signals on the open door for North Macedonia's EU membership. It is up to us to make a decision. For the first time on record, the blockade is coming from within. We need courage to make the decision," PM Kovachevski told Sitel.

Kovachevski compares North Macedonia to Croatia regarding the EU accession process.

"We were in the same position as Croatia when we started the accession process. Look at where Croatia is at now, and then look at us. They joined the EU, we are still waiting," says Kovachevski.

Asked if the country can get some guarantees for its EU membership, the PM says the Union's future is one of the topics at the coming informal summit in Spain that will take place in parallel with the meeting of the European Political Community.

"The meeting in Granada will tackle many important topics - the war in Ukraine, greater energy independence from Russia, and EU's future with a focus on enlargement and the Union's preparations to absorb new members. The process is supported by all member-states as never before. EU knows it needs enlargement," says Kovachevski.

According to him, Europe is uniting right now and it depends on North Macedonia whether it will be part of that process.

"This depends on us, it depends on the commitment and vision of politicians in our Parliament to ensure the citizens' European future. It is enough seeing our people using foreign passports to work in France, Germany, and recently in Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland. Why there? Because of the three-fold higher standard they reached after their accession to the half-a-billion EU market," notes Kovachevski.

On the constitutional amendments and the latest demand by the Albanian opposition over deleting the wording related to the "language spoken by 20 percent of citizens" and its replacement with "Albanian language", the PM said the Albanian bloc should think whether they want to be part of an anti-EU coalition together with VMRO-DPMNE.

"Because when I look at what VMRO-DPMNE and the Albanian opposition stand for at the moment, the only thing I see is their opposition to the EU," says Kovachevski.

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