Skopje, 19 July 2022 (MIA) – Today is a historic day for us. After 17 years, we are making the key step on the path to the realization of our decades-long, generational dream, one that a vast majority of our citizens, state leaders, politicians, civil society, academia, businessmen, journalists and media workers, thousands of civil servants have been committed to for many years, said Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski in his opening statement at the first Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) with the EU on Tuesday, MIA reports from Brussels. PM kovachevski said the IGC launched the final stage of North Macedonia’s long path to full-fledged EU membership. According to him, the IGC put into operation the EU Council decision of March 2020 and opened the process of admission of North Macedonia and its citizens into the large European family. “The road to Brussels has been a long one. North Macedonia formally applied for membership back in 2004 and obtained the candidate status in 2005. The European Commission gave the first recommendation for the start of the EU accession talks in 2009 and the Council reaffirmed it through a unanimous decision in March 2020,” said Kovachevski. The PM said North Macedonia belongs to the European family from a civilizational, geographic and historic aspect. “We are Europe in a nutshell, a multiethnic and multiconfessional functional democracy, actively working to build a society for all. We are living the EU motto ‘United in Diversity’ every single day and we are deeply proud of this,” added Kovachevski. In the spirit of respecting diversities, he said, through the Ohrid Framework Agreement and the subsequent constitutional revision, our country has created an advanced model that ensures equality in the realization of cultural, linguistic and identity rights of communities. The PM highlighted that the country is committed to overcoming challenges and enhancing relations with neighbors through implementation of the Prespa Agreement and the Bulgaria Friendship Treaty. “A European future through unconditional respect of the dignity and uniqueness of the Macedonian people and its linguistic, identity, historic and cultural traits. I am pleased that these issues, as well as bilateral issues not directly related to the EU law and the Copenhagen criteria for membership, will not be discussed during the negotiations, as it was unequivocally stated by EC President von der Leyen in the Parliament of North Macedonia, in front of all MPs and citizens,” said Kovachevski. I am proud, he said, that the Macedonian language will be the language used in the process of the accession negotiations, including in the signing of the Accession Treaty of the Republic of North Macedonia in the EU, while eagerly awaiting the day when, through North Macedonia’s full-fledged membership, the Macedonian language becomes one of EU’s official languages, on equal footing with the remaining 24 official languages. “We are prepared to fully transpose the EU law in our domestic legislation and build efficient administrative and judicial capacities for its full implementation. Our legislation is currently aligned with the EU law at about 45 percent. The accession negotiations will only be an added incentive for acceleration of the harmonization process, as well as the process of integrating into the EU single market,” said Kovachevski. He added that all relevant institutions in North Macedonia are fully prepared to contribute to the efficient and effective implementation of the screening process and continue with further alignment of our legal framework with EU standards. “We are aware that the length of the negotiations will depend primarily on the implementation of the required reforms and EU’s capability to support and enhance its own development and guaranteeing its capacity for integration of new members. In this regard, North Macedonia aims to be fully prepared to undertake the tasks arising from EU membership by the end of 2030, so that it can join the EU at the beginning of the next EU budget period,” said Kovachevski. During the negotiations, the Government will abide, as it has done until now, by the principles of transparency and inclusion of all stakeholders. “May we have a happy start of the accession negotiations, we will walk this path together and I am certain that not long from now, we will rejoice together over North Macedonia’s full-fledged membership in the European Union,” underlined PM Kovachevski.