Skopje, 16 August 2024 (MIA) – There is a way to secure that our country’s future path to the EU will be based on measurable criteria, Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski said Friday, underscoring that he “always believes in reasonableness” and that “the process of our country’s integration towards full membership is just as important for us as it is for all our neighbors.”

Asked whether there are any signals for talks in neighboring Bulgaria, Mucunski said that Bulgaria is entering an election year once again, expressing expectation that a political government will be formed as soon as possible, a government with which, as he said, ‘we will be able to discuss and open dialogue on multiple levels – from the highest level down to the level of cooperation between the ministries of foreign affairs.’

"Our positions are well known. These are positions that were publicly presented during the election campaign. Based on these positions, we certainly believe that we should discuss not only with Bulgaria but also with all our neighbors with whom we have open issues," Mucunski stated, responding to journalists' questions after the opening of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University’s 57th Summer School of the International Seminar on Macedonian Language, Literature, and Culture in Ohrid.

With a proactive approach, openness, and good faith, considering global challenges as well, Mucunski believes that there is no issue that cannot be overcome.

Asked whether he expects a new negotiating framework with the EU, Mucunski explained that “we need to have certainty that processes we will lead in the future will be predictable” and that is crucial both for us as a country and for the European Union.

Any further bilateralization of the European integration process undermines the legitimacy of the EU enlargement process. We say that if we feel confident that the path forward can be pursued based on tangible and measurable criteria that stem from European standards, then we have room to discuss how to move forward. There is a way to ensure that our country’s future path towards the EU will be based on measurable criteria,' Mucunski stated.

Photo: MIA