Marichikj: North Macedonia has done a lot in past six years, expects it to be valorized
Skopje, 19 November 2022 (MIA) – Recently, various non-papers have been circulating, various documents proposing a so-called accession in stages. This means joining the EU as soon as possible, while not having all the privileges and rights that all member countries have. It is important for us, even under such conditions, to join the EU as soon as possible, said Deputy PM for European Affairs, Bojan Marichikj, addressing a panel as part of the "Balkan Integration Forum 2022".
“Now it is most important that the EU makes a clear plan for the enlargement with the Western Balkans as soon as possible, with a time frame in which the Western Balkan countries, or at least most of them, will join the European Union. This will confirm that the European Union works for the Western Balkans and that it is the only project for the region,” said Marichikj.
According to the Deputy PM and Chief Negotiator with the EU, North Macedonia has done a lot in the past six years and expects it to be valorized in an appropriate way, not with empty promises, but with a concrete plan as to when North Macedonia, as well as all the others countries that have been in the process for a long time, will become members of the European Union.
Marichikj also stressed he expects the EU member states not to allow historical processes to be any kind of benchmarks, because if they allow it, in the future, an EU member country can make any demands from another candidate country, at any stage of the process of European integration, which will have nothing to do with the European Union.
“That’s why it is very important to stick to the European principles, the Copenhagen criteria, and to resolve bilateral disputes in a European way, with a fair compromise and through the mechanisms that the European Union and the Council of Europe already have in place,” Marichikj pointed out.
He added that the Ukraine crisis has shown several other important things, one of them being the importance of the NATO Alliance both as an organization and as a security system, which the country has not been aware of when the constitutional amendments related to the Prespa Agreement were made at the time, noting that if North Macedonia had not joined NATO, the security and political situation in the country would have certainly been much more complicated.
The Balkan Integration Forum 2022, organized by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the European Movement Montenegro, was held in Podgorica Montenegro on November 17-18.
Deputy PM for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj addressed the forum via video, alongside Ranko Krivokapić, former Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro, Vesna Pusić, former member of the Croatian Parliament, Igor Crnadak, former Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Boško Jakšić, journalist and author.
