Kavadarci, 6 December 2025 (MIA) — The period between 2025 and 2030 is a strategic crossroads for the country, amid changing geopolitical currents, new economic models and evolved democratic standards, and the country can make progress only if led by a party with a clear vision; VMRO-DPMNE has taken that role with full awareness of the responsibility each next step brings, VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski told the party's 18th congress held Saturday in Kavadarci.

"Our vision of a modern Macedonia is based on clear principles: a state that safeguards its identity; a state that defends its sovereign position; a state that builds its European perspective on the basis of partnerships, reforms and dignified representation," Mickoski said.

He said history was not a burden but the foundation national self-confidence was built on.

"The legacy of our fights for freedom, language, statehood and cultural identity has charged our generation with three duties: to preserve the continuity and dignity of Macedonian statehood and identity; to modernize the state so it is resistant to external pressures and internal weaknesses; and to prevent the misuse of history for political wrangling," Mickoski said.

"Macedonia is a country built on European values, freedom, democratic tradition and the rule of law, so it is naturally related to the Euro-Atlantic family. But European and Euro-Atlantic integration cannot be reduced to passive acceptance or unconditional dependence. A small country can be a strong country if it has the self-confidence and sense of its own weight, standing firm on its interests," he said, adding that the state needed to know how to reject anything that endangered its principles, dignity and identity.

On the partnership with NATO and the EU, Mickoski said it could only be strong if equal. VMRO-DPMNE's brand of conservatism, he said, was not the radical right's or the classic hard-line brand of conservatism that had become obsolete. He said they were a center-right party that would modernize the state by preserving values, tradition and identity while also building a dynamic economy, innovative administration and institutions defending the freedom, private initiative and the dignity of each citizen.

"VMRO-DPMNE has positioned itself as the political force that unites the best traditions of European conservative thought: development without ideological aggression, patriotism without exclusivity, an economy that creates opportunities and a state that supports the most vulnerable," he said. 

"Macedonia can be European only if it is stable in its self-awareness and confident in its own identity. In the European tradition of people's parties, the national is not an ethnocentric instrument, but a democratic expression of a common history, culture and political will," he said. 

Mickoski also said the state was still young, exposed to historical trials and often faced with attempts to relativize its existence. 

"This is why VMRO-DPMNE has drawn the following strategic line: National identity is not subject to negotiations; respect for other identities is a value, but not at the expense of one's own; language, history and culture are the fundamental pillars of the state; compromises in international politics can be technical, but cannot be substantial; and the state's dignity is not rhetoric, but practical politics," Mickoski said. mr/