Ohrid, 7 April 2024 (MIA) – We promised that we will make Macedonia a NATO member, and we did so after 25 years as a candidate state. We also made a huge step forward in the negotiations with the EU, after 17 years in the waiting room we finally launched negotiations. Unfortunately, when we least expected it, our eastern neighbor acted in a completely anti-European way and blocked us on that path, SDSM-endorsed presidential candidate Stevo Pendarovski said at a rally Sunday in Ohrid.

Pendarovski said the country could have overcome the challenge of that blockade easily as well, if it didn’t have an opposition “which de facto has the same anti-Macedonian positions and supports all obstructions coming from that side.”

“Maybe their reasons, their motives are different, but the effect is the same. By not agreeing to continue forward with a fairly well-balanced negotiating framework they de facto blocked their own country, and now, during this campaign, they shamelessly stand in front of you and say we have a plan, but we will tell you after the elections. First elect us, so that we can come in power, and then we will tell you what we will do so that Macedonia can continue on the path to the EU,” Pendarovski said.

According to the presidential candidate, the country can continue its EU path only with the current political structure.

“Unlike them, we have friends abroad, and we know how far we can go in those negotiations because we learned to protect the Macedonian national interests like no other government before. VMRO-DPMNE kept talking about how it protects our national interests, but they didn’t move a finger for 11 years to do something in those negotiations,” Pendarovski said.

He voiced hope that on April 24 and May 8 a great majority of Macedonian citizens will say no to “the adventurous concepts” that offer nothing. 

“When they aren’t telling you what they will work towards and how we can move forward, when they say they will renegotiate all agreements that made Macedonia what it is today – a stable country respected in Europe and in the world, then those people should not receive your trust and vote. These people here, I’ve been a part of this structure for more than 15 years, and we showed that we know how to fight for Macedonia, and how Macedonia can progress,” Pendarovski said.

As part of his campaign activities on Sunday, Pendarovski also met with the citizens of Struga, Debrca and Vevchani.

Photo: MIA