Skopje, 12 June 2024 (MIA) — There's no dilemma that international agreements should be honored but this is a two-way street, prime minister-designate Hristijan Mickoski said in response to a reporter asking him to comment on the recommendations from the USA and France to honor international agreements.

"An agreement is an agreement between at least two parties, and both parties should honor it. If you mean the Prespa Agreement in particular, we, too, as the future government, honor it in every detail. All that is part of our legislation, our the Constitution, we honor in every detail, and there should be no dilemma there," Mickoski said.

"But at the same time, I also expect the second signatory, our southern neighbor, to honor it. We have created a document about how much our side has implemented it and how much the Greek side has implemented it and we plan to show anyone curious to know how much both sides have honored the bilateral international agreement," he added.

The PM designate said he expected all of the country's strategic partners to honor the agreements they were a part of.

Asked to comment on whether the European People's Party's EU Parliament election victory would contribute to EU's enlargement, Mickoski said he expected the path of European integration to remain open for countries that want to be part of the EU.

"The European People's Party is our big supporter. Unfortunately, Macedonia as a country — though it may have been much more prepared than most EU member states — due to conditions no one had had before, has been a victim of some politicians' politics and unfortunately still, after two and a half decades, cannot start negotiations," Mickoski said.

He said he expected that the next European Commission would work more intensively and that the only criteria would be the Copenhagen criteria. VMRO-DPMNE's position was clear, he said, that it would accept no dictates or ultimatums.

"The mistake made by the current government has unfortunately damaged our negotiating positions," Mickoski said. "The gullibility of some politicians who were and are still part of this government has made our positions difficult. But I am convinced that reason will prevail and that we will discuss the future and not the past."

He also said VMRO-DPMNE had offered a reasonable proposal as part of its election platform, which he hoped would be accepted and help remove the existing roadblocks on the way. "So I am convinced that in a furious style Macedonia will be part of the EU," Mickoski said. mr/