Skopje, 20 March 2023 (MIA) - We need to remove barriers on the path to the EU, because North Macedonia needs to take its deserved place in the European Union, Nathanael Liminski, Minister of Federal, European and International Affairs and the Media and Head of the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia, told Monday's conference on 30 years of Macedonian-German diplomatic relations: Bilateral cooperation and development support with North Rhine-Westphalia, organized by the Presidential Center for Political Education in Skopje.

"We are serious in supporting the country on its path to the EU, and therefore we want the necessary constitutional amendments to be adopted soon. I know this will cause debates in society, but it's something you have to go through, and you can count on us to be by your side in this process, and hopefully at the end of it all, the country will be less polarized," said Liminski. 

He stressed that the visit to Skopje is to reaffirm partnership with North Macedonia. 

"Our partnership is increasing and deepening in several areas, in the business sector, civil society, education, especially postgraduate studies. We had projects to strengthen journalism, we marked the cooperation between the police. The presence here of the business delegation shows that we want to deepen this partnership," Liminski said. 

He expressed expectation that the obstacles on the country's path to the EU will be quickly overcome, noting that in July last year the accession process continued with the holding of the first intergovernmental conference with the EU, which was delayed for a long time.

Deputy PM for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj said Germany is North Macedonia's most important European partner, and Germany, he noted, is the country that supported us the most on our way to integration into the European Union.

"These are not just words, they made very strong efforts to push us forward, including in solving the issue with Bulgaria. This is just the beginning, we expect further support in the period ahead, especially in areas such as the rule of law, fight against corruption, democracy, civil society, as well as in education reform, particularly vocational education, public administration reform, and support of economic structural reforms and development of economic cooperation," said Marichikj. 

At the moment, said the Deputy PM, we're going through a difficult period with our neighbors. 

"We have overcome the long-term issue with Greece, we are now in the process of overcoming the issue with Bulgaria, but I think we should focus on the prize, and the prize is EU membership," Marichikj said. 

He added that work should first be done on reforms at home, particularly the rule of law, efficient judiciary, efficient fight against corruption, functioning of democratic instututions and public administration reform.