Skopje, 16 October 2024 (MIA) — Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, after taking part in the Berlin Process summit and several meetings at its sidelines, is more optimistic regarding the European integration process of the country and is unsure whether he should send a letter to EU leaders giving them new ideas for continuing the negotiations.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, PM Mickoski said he had an exceptionally high-quality visit to Berlin.

"We had a visit that made me more optimistic than I was before the visit. On the sidelines, during the working lunch, but also in other meetings I had there, I saw there were initiatives, which were also mentioned by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at the press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski," Mickoski said.

Declining to go into more detail about his conversations in Berlin, he said would not back down from defending national interests or the country's EU accession.

"My message to the citizens is this government and me as prime minister will disappoint one group of people, and that is the opposition," he said. 

"But rest assured I will never, ever, at any cost, betray the citizens' expectations or abandon our standpoints that are in the interest of the vast majority of Macedonian citizens: protecting our national interests and integrating the country into the European Union," Mickoski said.

Asked to comment on the German government's special representative for the Western Balkans Manuel Sarrazin's briefing that the Macedonian proposals were rejected in Berlin, Mickoski reiterated his own optimism for the country's EU prospects.

"We will continue to solve the problems at home, but we will fight outside with everything we have at our disposal, based on the Copenhagen Criteria, based on the true values ​​of the EU," the PM said. 

"These are not ultimatums and dictates, but a conversation, a constructive dialogue, which will be the basis for finding a permanent, long-term solution that would not humiliate anyone but, on the contrary, defend true European values. 

"Our job, as a government that got more than 600,000 votes in the May 8 election, is to first protect our national interests and the country's full membership to the EU is a national interest," he added.

Regarding the letter he had publicly said he would be sending to Brussels, Mickoski said he was not sure if he should still send it following his meetings in Berlin.

"Considering that the Commission President [Ursula von der Leyen] is coming on Oct. 24, we had the opportunity to talk unofficially at lunch in Berlin and on the sidelines of the Berlin Process summit. I also had an unofficial meeting with Chancellor [Olaf] Scholz, which was very friendly and meaningful," the PM said. mr/