Skopje, 4 July 2025 (MIA) - Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Friday it is time for a country where more children are born, young people get married, and those who have emigrated return home. According to him, demographic recession is a problem not only in Macedonia, but a challenge in all of Europe and beyond. He pointed out that the Government is not keeping quiet about the issue, but is creating policies to deal with it. 

Although Macedonia is an exception, the PM noted, our situation is still special, because while some countries see this phenomenon as a trend, in our country it is "an alarm".

Addressing the event on "Demographic Trends, Challenges and Possible Solutions - Development of Strategic Documents for Demographic Resilience" at the Government on Friday, Mickoski pointed out that the issue was swept under the carpet by previous governments and was not seen as a serious threat. He added that in 2024, 16,061 children were born and 20,201 people died, noting that this is a natural decline of 4,140 people in just one year.

"In the past four years, we have lost more than 33,000 residents, as if a city the size of Kavadarci or Kichevo had disappeared. The birth rate dropped from 12.5 per thousand in 2010 to just 8.8 in 2024," said the PM. 

He added that in many municipalities and villages more and more people live alone, fewer and fewer are getting married, and fewer and fewer children are being born.

"These are not just numbers. This is a silence that is spreading. When we say that they were "destroying the foundations," we did not only mean corruption, stalled projects, dysfunctional institutions from the previous government. This is what we also meant. The destruction of the family. The loss of the future. Emigration as the only option. That is why today we say it out loud: This government is not keeping quiet about the problem. It recognizes it. It is fighting it. But what does that fight mean? It is a fight not just of one ministry. It is a fight of all of us. A fight that is being waged in kindergartens, in schools, in maternity hospitals, in homes, in emigrant clubs, at border crossings where mothers and sons say goodbye," Mickoski pointed out. 

The PM noted that the goal is to make life worthwhile, motherhood a blessing, not a burden, but also to give young people reasons to stay.

"Let's build institutions that do not waste other people's youth, but rather nurture it, let's build a country in which hope is more important than a passport. We know that there is no magic solution. But there is a deliberate, constant, statesmanlike struggle. And we have started it. Every measure, every investment, every policy that we carry out is aimed at restoring faith," Mickoski said, adding that the Government is seriously considering introducing additional taxes for unmarried people. 

He stressed that there is nothing more sacred than life, and nothing sadder than the fact that today the country is quietly emptying.

"But also – there is nothing braver than the people awakening. That is why we say: It is time. It is time for the future. It is time for a country where more children are born, more young people get married and have more children, more people return home, and people live wholeheartedly. As Edgar Morin said, demography is not destiny – but a mirror. The question is: what will we see in it, and will we have the courage to act. We are already seeing. And we are already acting. We are building the foundations of change – because the time of the people and the citizens is coming. And it will not be a time of departure, but a time of return. Not of silence, but of new voices. Not of disappearance, but of birth," Mickoski pointed out. 

Photo: print screen