Skopje, 3 January 2023 (MIA) – The future of the country, the direction that we choose and achieving our national strategic goals should be the priorities for all of us at the moment. Currently we have strong support from the European institutions, the member states, the high EU representatives and we should make wise use of it to achieve progress on our EU path, Deputy PM for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj said Tuesday.

“A dynamic and intensive period of EU tasks and implementing the reform agenda awaits us in 2023. In the next stage of the screening process, we need to focus and discuss the issues which are being imposed, and are related to the internal market, the rule of law, the environment, transport, agriculture and the fight against corruption,” Marichikj said in an interview with Sloboden pechat.

He said that according to the schedule agreed with the EU Commission, the bilateral meetings on Cluster 2 – Internal Market, with 9 chapters, will continue in the second half of January, while by the end of 2023 the country will need to finish the bilateral screenings of all the remaining clusters.

This year, said Marichikj, we expect to receive the reports from the screening for each cluster, starting from the Fundamentals cluster. These reports and recommendations by the EC will represent the basis of reforms, investments and building capacities necessary to Europeanize the Macedonian society.

“We will also begin with the drafting of the roadmaps, the roadmap on the rule of law will encompass reforms in the “Judiciary and Fundamental Rights” chapter and the “Justice, Freedom and Security” chapter. This roadmap will represent a benchmark for the opening of Cluster 1 – Fundamentals. The roadmap on reform in the public administration will follow, and it is expected to focus on building a professional administration in the service of the citizens, and is also a benchmark for Cluster 1. Finally, there is the roadmap for the functioning of democratic institutions, which is expected to contain measures to strengthen democratic governance at all levels, in regards to the work of Parliament, the electoral process and increasing citizen participation in democratic processes, but this roadmap will not be a benchmark for the Cluster,” Deputy PM Marichikj said.

Marichikj expects that with a common consensus on issues concerning the country’s European perspective, it will be possible to adopt the constitutional amendments. The citizens, he added, support EU memberships and know that the country should move forward on the EU path, the only path that will lead to the transformation of Macedonian society in line with European values and standards, and a path which leads to stability, prosperity, new opportunities and non-refundable EU funds.

“Any deviation from the EU path, and this will happen if the opposition does not support the constitutional amendments, will lead to uncertainty, political crisis and more waiting for North Macedonia. The next blockade might come from VMRO-DPMNE,” said Marichikj.

The Deputy PM added that the country no longer has any external blockades. On the contrary, he noted, it has the support of the European institutions and the member states and wise use of the momentum and the advantages that the country has should be made.

“We have good starting positions such as a high level of alignment with the EU acquis, in some areas we are even ahead of the countries that have been negotiating for decades. I believe that the strategic goal of the country will be a priority for all political factors and we will achieve it with a successful implementation of the constitutional amendments, so that we can fully commit ourselves to becoming an EU member by the end of the decade,” said Marichikj. ad/nn/