Shtip, 7 December 2021 (MIA) – I expect the country to start negotiating with the EU to become a member in over a week from now because it has deserved it, VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski told reporters in Shtip. “It’s high time the EU demonstrated in practice the values we both share and to abandon the hegemonic demands of our eastern neighbor, which have nothing to do with European values. Their demands are probably adequate for the past, but not for the future,” Mickoski said Tuesday. Asked whether the survival of the current government depends of the opening of EU negotiations, the opposition leader once again called for quick snap elections in order “the country and its citizens to end the political, economic and energy crisis.” Mickoski called the party Alternativa’s inclusion in the parliamentary majority and the government “the final act of the scenario to destroy Macedonia, directed by Zoran Zaev and SDSM.” VMRO-DPMNE on Sunday will hold a party congress in Skopje to elect a leader. A couple of days ago, Mickoski filed his candidacy to be re-elected. Asked whether there are other candidates running for VMRO-DPMNE leader, he said he doesn’t know and he wasn’t interested.