Skopje, 14 October 2025 (MIA) - Slovakia is a big supporter of your country's European integration and will fully support accession, because that is the right perspective and the right way to progress. But the EU cannot play with this country's trust, because there comes a point when people will simply stop trusting the EU and can simply say that they do not want to join this club, because after decades of hard investments and painful reforms they will simply not accept that, the President of the Slovak Republic, Peter Pellegrini, told Tuesday's joint press conference with President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova at the Villa Vodno.

The Slovak President criticized the EU for constantly setting new conditions for the country, and according to him, the Union is making a big mistake because it will lose the enlargement momentum.

"Your country's integration in the EU should not be undermined by political disputes, and I agree that the accession process for the country should be based only on fulfilling the criteria, and no country should exploit that, just so that it can deal with its own issues while slowing down your accession process, which is almost a kind of blackmail," the Slovak President said.

He noted that the country had to make difficult decisions, such as the name change, and it has been part of the pre-accession process for over 20 years.

"Despite that, we still don't have an answer to the question of when your country will join the EU. The Union is taking risks with this process. Slovakia stands by your side and will support you in every possible way because we believe that the future of the EU lies in enlargement, even in terms of security, especially in this region, and I am confident that you have a strong place in the EU. On the part of the EU, we must be very honest and say whether we are fair or we just want to delay this process," said Pellegrini.

He expressed hope that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, during Wednesday's visit, will make a more optimistic statement regarding accession and will give hope to this country and its people.

The Slovak President stressed that Slovakia has always supported the country, but not always all opportunities have been used, adding that it is good to intensify mutual trade and strengthen connections and partnerships, which is why the Memorandum of Cooperation has been signed.

"This is not just a formal signing of a Memorandum, where we just take a picture and put it in a drawer somewhere, but the goal is to develop this further. With this meeting and with the meeting of the ministers, we want to work precisely on the development of the economy. Of course, North Macedonia's accession to the EU will help in terms of the free movement of people, goods and services. After the accession there will be a new dynamic for the country, which will benefit not only the country, but also the EU, and can help develop the economy of this country because in that case it can become part of a larger market, which will make the lives of citizens here, in North Macedonia, easier," Pellegrini said. 

Slovakia, he added, is part of expert teams helping North Macedonia go through the entire negotiations process.

"Our country has already been through this process and made many mistakes, and we are aware of the fact that this process is really difficult. Representatives from different ministries participate in different negotiations, and we are helping Skopje to follow this path and I believe that in a short time you will join the EU," Pellegrini added.

In response to a reporter's question on whether the 2030 enlargement target date for the Western Balkan countries to join the EU is realistic, he reiterated that he wishes for it to happen, but, he added, "I believe the EU is playing with this country's efforts."

"The EU should be aware that the enlargement process is alive and countries like this have the potential to negotiate chapter by chapter, to implement reforms in order to meet the criteria. I am a little more concerned that the accession of these countries will not be based on their technical level of readiness, but only geopolitical games will be played with them, and there will be countries in the EU that will play political games, all with the aim of hindering the accession, and I believe that if they do that then they will make a huge political mistake and will regret it," he said.

Pellegrini also noted that the Union is currently facing a crisis, and what is worse is that the EU is no longer seen as one of the most important and strongest economic markets in the world.

"The EU is losing its competitiveness. The engine of innovation and research is lagging behind Asian countries and the United States. We are facing a huge crisis of high energy prices, we are threatened by an economic war in the form of customs duties. The EU is facing a difficult situation and needs to deal with it. All of us who represent the EU need to gather courage to develop the economy in order not to be pushed aside. We need to invest a lot in modern infrastructure, and in research and development, but I believe that the EU can still remain one of the larger blocs," Pellegrini pointed out.

As regards streamlining the decision-making process in the EU by moving towards qualified majority voting, Pellegrini said the voice of smaller countries would be lost in that way.

"We all have the same voice in the EU, and now we are worried that if we move this process towards qualified majority voting, then it may happen that the big players in the EU will dictate, and the smaller ones will not be able to say what should be done. That is why we are very cautious here, and we would prefer to retain the right to veto and also a single vote for each country in order to be able to eliminate the dictate of the big countries," said the Slovak President, who is paying an official visit to the country.

Photo: MIA