Skopje, 19 April 2024 (MIA) — We positioned North Macedonia in NATO, which is our biggest success after gaining independence; we also started negotiations on EU membership. We do not need a new Constitution and new agreements – we need to meet our obligations and join the EU in four to five years, President Stevo Pendarovski said at a reelection rally in Butel on Friday evening.

In his speech, President Pendarovski recalled the achievements of the past five years, highlighting the country's membership in NATO.

"With joint efforts, we did a few things no political group had done in the past. Four years ago, we positioned North Macedonia for NATO membership, which I am deeply convinced is our greatest success after gaining independence on Sept. 8, 1991," Pendarovski said. 

He said NATO members had the strongest armies, the most powerful economies and the most powerful democracies. NATO membership, he added, was a guarantee of territorial integrity and sovereignty as well as for individual security of every citizen. 

He also spoke about the start of EU negotiations. "We made an agreement with our eastern neighbor and with Brussels, which guarantees the Macedonian identity and the Macedonian language, so we started the process we had been waiting for since 2005. 

"We showed that when you have a political vision, when you have courage, when you don't think about your personal rating and popularity, but care about future generations, then you can achieve success," Pendarovski said.

Commenting on VMRO-DPMNE's presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska Davkova's saying she would withdraw from the Prespa Agreement that helped the country enter NATO, Pendarovski said her party was ignoring the fact that the agreement clearly said "there are Macedonians and there is a Macedonian language, and they are verified at the level of the United Nations, at the level of the EU and all world organizations," Pendarovski highlighted.

He also said all EU laws would be translated into Macedonian when the country joins the bloc. "But the opposition party doesn't like this and they give false hope to our citizens that we can negotiate a better agreement. Their candidate says that we, supposedly, needed a new civil Constitution. Does that mean that in this new civil Constitution there will be no Macedonians at all? Or other ethnicities? There will only be citizens of Macedonia," Pendarovski said.

He said the Constitution was good as it was, equally representing the rights of all ethnic communities.

Earlier, at a Shuto Orizari rally, Pendarovski said that a multi-ethnic country can prosper only if it values all ethnic communities equally.

"For me, the Roma are equal to all other citizens. I do not discriminate people based on their religion or ethnicity," he said, adding that he tried to help anyone who asked for his help.

"I call friends, MPs, doctors. We must stand in solidarity and help the more vulnerable, the marginalized," Pendarovski said. mr/