The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovačevski, assessed that his country is leading the way in readiness and that it can become the first member of the European Union from the Western Balkans by 2030.
"I am convinced that if we make decisions (constitutional changes) in the Assembly, North Macedonia will be the first country from the Western Balkans to become a member of the EU in 2030," Kovačevski said.
In an interview with "Kanal 5" TV, he said that "Europe in multiple speeds" also refers to the countries of the Western Balkans, which means that the first to join the EU will be those who first prepare, make the necessary reforms, complete the harmonization of legislation and complete harmonization of legislation in institutions.
As he pointed out, this was confirmed with North Macedonia, which returned to the European path, and was in the waiting room thanks to the policy of isolation that the government of the now opposition VMRO-DPMNE led for 11 years.
"We have been waiting for 17 years. Together with Croatia, we started our European journey. Today, Croatia is a member of the EU, a member of Schengen and the country that introduced the euro. And we just started negotiations last year. This means more speeds and there is no better example for more speeds," said the Prime Minister of North Macedonia and SDSM leader.
According to him, "if North Macedonia does not make the necessary decisions now, it will mean that Montenegro, Serbia and Albania will go before it, and that his country will remain in the company of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo".
"Do we want to remain in that society of countries that still have elementary problems in functioning? I do not agree that our country and our citizens should be in the group with Kosovo and BiH in European integration, because at this moment we are ahead of all the countries in the region. And I am convinced that if we make decisions in the Assembly that in 2030, North Macedonia will be the first country in the Western Balkans to become a member of the EU," Kovačevski said.
In July of last year in Brussels, North Macedonia started the first phase of negotiations with the EU, but in order to move to the second phase and start opening chapters, it must introduce Bulgarians into the Constitution, for which the ruling coalition SDSM and DUI does not have the necessary support of the opposition VMRO DPMNE.
In mid-August, a plenary session on constitutional amendments for the introduction of Bulgarians into the Constitution began in the Assembly, but the vote on the need for amendments to the Constitution was postponed indefinitely until the ruling coalition secures the two-thirds majority for which it needs the votes of VMRO DPMNE deputies.
The informal deadline for the adoption of constitutional amendments is the end of this year, so that the second Intergovernmental Conference of North Macedonia and the EU will be held after the end of the screening, which is planned for November.
Bonus video:
