Skopje, 6 November 2025 (MIA) - We will make the constitutional amendments, be the best, and then face another veto and face new problems, and then surely we will earn top marks and be frontrunners. But I’m very satisfied with what’s written there, as there is no setback, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Thursday when asked about the European Commission’s progress report.

Mickoski said there is stagnation in several areas, and that “this is something we all have been pointing out.”

“This mainly concerns the rule of law and the fight against crime and corruption. That’s why I’ve been constantly stressing the need for reforms in the Judicial Council, the Prosecutor’s Office, and other institutions. Now that the elections are over, we will focus on that issue much more seriously. In all other areas, there is either modest or significant progress. Overall, I consider the report positive, though I do not agree with statement that some countries are ahead of us. For example, we are far ahead of Albania. Although some of the European commissioners make such statements, when the situation of the countries is analyzed,  who is ready and who is not, the objective assessment is that Montenegro is first, we and Serbia are second, followed by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, etc., from the countries in the region,” Mickoski said.

PM Mickoski stressed that the government will continue working and that he is fully focused on reforms.

“We need to work and we will work. I am fully focused on reforms. This is a reform-oriented government and will continue on that path. I am encouraged by the messages on reforms in the economic sector, in the fight against money laundering, the introduction of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), customs, and initiatives such as free roaming, which will be implemented,” Mickoski said in Petrovec, where he attended the cornerstone laying ceremony for a new Cultural Center.

Photo: MIA