Észak-Macedóniát „zsarolják” az EU-tagság felé vezető úton – mondja Mickoski miniszterelnök
Miután több mint két évtizedet töltött az EU-tagság várótermében, Észak-Macedónia reméli, hogy a várakozás végre véget ér, mivel Mickoski miniszterelnök az Euronews-nak nyilatkozva elmondta, hogy országának csatlakozását „mesterséges viták” késleltetik.
00:00This is indeed Euronews new format, 12 minutes with, and we are going to have 12 minutes with
00:15Christian Mitskoski, Prime Minister of North Macedonia. Thank you for being here.
00:19Thank you for the invitation, of course.
00:21You are a very experienced candidate, if I may say.
00:26Now, the country submitted the application in March 2004.
00:31Practically, we started this journey more than two decades ago, two decades and a half, 25 years ago.
00:4025 years ago, we signed that Stability and Association Agreement with the European Union.
00:48We've become a candidate country since 2005, together with Croatia.
00:54We received the first positive report for starting negotiations in 2009, together with Croatia.
01:04And unfortunately, we are in the same place where we were 25 years ago, due to some artificial reasons.
01:11Not because of the Copenhagen criteria, not because of the fulfilling some objectives, but because of some artificial disputes.
01:22Such are our national flag, our national name, our country name, change of constitution this, change of constitution that.
01:30But again, there is another hurdle, another constraint imposed in front of us for changing of constitution.
01:38So, it's not about fulfilling recommendations and Copenhagen criteria.
01:43You're calling them artificial.
01:45How does it make you feel, knowing that for over two decades officially, in the candidate status, yet again there is more and more roadblocks?
01:53We do believe that our future is in the European Union.
01:58We are a part of the European continent.
02:01And we do believe that integration of Western Balkans in the EU means added value for the EU itself.
02:09And this means reunification on a sort of way of the European continent.
02:16And I do think that the future of my country and the future of my nation, Macedonians, is within the European Union.
02:25And therefore, despite all those humiliations and disappointments, and despite the current frustration, which is inside of our citizens, we do share the same values.
02:37Let's talk a little more in details about some of those.
02:42Right after finding an arrangement with Greece, you then faced a veto from Bulgaria.
02:48And this is the current situation.
02:50This issue of unanimity and then the vetoes, obviously, is a very important conversation.
02:55And do you know exactly how long it can take?
02:59We know what unanimity means for us and what type of sacrifice we've did in the past.
03:09But nevertheless, this is the past.
03:11I would like to talk about the current situation.
03:16When there was a press agreement on the table and when this name issue was on the table, a lot of people from all over the world came into our capital in Skopje,
03:31trying to convince us that, look, you are the frontrunners in the region.
03:36You are far, far ahead compared with the other countries from the Western Balkans.
03:40If immediately when you will provide solution for this dispute, then probably immediately you've become a member of NATO and it will take probably four or five years and you will become a member of the EU.
03:54Those four or five years expired two years ago.
03:58And we are at the same place where we were two and a half decades ago.
04:03Why? Because now a new hurdle, new constraint is in front of us.
04:08Again, change of a constitution.
04:11We need to add into the preambula of our constitution, which is a descriptive part of our constitution,
04:20a part of Bulgarian people which are living in our country.
04:26And according to the last census data, we are talking about a couple of hundred people.
04:31We are not talking about millions.
04:33We are not talking about hundreds of thousands of people.
04:36We are talking about literally a couple of hundred people, which declared during the last census that their mother tongue is Bulgarian language.
04:47But however, citizens of my country, full of frustration, are asking me,
04:53Okay, Prime Minister, what is now? What is now the problem?
04:57Why do we need to change our constitution again?
05:02Okay, if we do this, this will be the last one or probably there will be some additional in the future.
05:12Why do we need to bring a couple of hundred citizens of our country into our constitution?
05:18We are talking about violation of someone's human rights, who we are politicians to judge whether someone's rights is being violated or not.
05:29We can only misuse that issue.
05:32The real institution, which is judging whether someone's rights is being violated or not, is in Strasbourg.
05:38And what European Court for Human Rights says during the last couple of years, 14 times in a favor of Macedonian community in Bulgaria and zero times in a favor of Bulgarian community in my country.
05:57So, then there is another question, an additional question, why we should change our constitution then?
06:05Why we are not talking about Macedonian community in Bulgaria?
06:10What about their human rights?
06:13What about their human rights?
06:15Because they are not allowed to register non-governmental organization.
06:20We are not talking about the change of Bulgarian constitution.
06:24We are not talking about a sort of reciprocity.
06:28We are talking about registering non-governmental organization.
06:32And what we are saying, okay, previous, the best corruptive government in Europe accepted that deal to change constitution, suspending the parliament in my country.
06:44I am suspending the voice of the parliament in my country.
06:49And they are now in the history.
06:51There is a new government.
06:53And this new government is saying, okay, those guys, those ladies and gentlemen accepted.
07:01But what about international law?
07:05What about resolution that is protecting human rights in the countries which are in the perimeter of European Union?
07:15How do you communicate that specifically with this community?
07:19How do you build this dialogue with them, trying to convince them, probably, or explain it to them?
07:27You mean about Bulgarian community?
07:31Community teams.
07:31They have all the rights.
07:33Our constitution is that like.
07:36They have literally all the rights.
07:39Practically, they are a part of our institutions.
07:43But, okay, again, I am saying, okay, they are in, we are out.
07:47This is a bit of bullying, okay?
07:49We would like to see ourselves on the table in Brussels.
07:53And what is now the price?
07:56And whether this is the last price that we should pay?
07:59This is the real question.
08:01How do you see the other EU membership hopefuls, the candidate countries, who are facing quite similar obstacles on their path?
08:10What would be some kind of piece of advice that you could share with your experience?
08:14Again, given that you had to overcome first one veto, then the second one veto.
08:19And then, as you said, who knows which one might come next?
08:24I can't remember a similar case.
08:28Maybe in the past that was a dispute between Slovenia and Croatia.
08:33In the meantime...
08:35There is a certain veto happening now with the candidate countries, as we have heard with the president of Ukraine.
08:39I am talking about the past.
08:41About the current situation, I am not surprised.
08:43I am not surprised that the similar situation will occur in the future.
08:48Because if someone is witnessing that this veto tool works, then we should apply the same recipe.
08:57Why not?
08:58Because if someone dares to bully someone else who wants to join the club, why the other should be silent?
09:06This is not normal.
09:07If we are accepting that principle once, then this principle will destroy all the values developed by Degasperi, Schumann and Adonauer when this organization was developed.
09:23So, the European Union itself should ask themselves what we are doing.
09:29What we are doing with this unanimity.
09:33And is it according to the principles and values based on which we have been developed?
09:40And in this current situation, my final question to you would be, how disappointing it is for average Macedonians to, as you say, for over two decades to be...
09:52These are generations who have been waiting for over two decades and yet facing these roadblocks.
09:57Very much.
09:58Are they losing the motivation to join the European Union?
10:01No, definitely.
10:02The support is the highest in the region, maybe, or among the highest in the region.
10:06I am working as a professor and teaching mechatronics.
10:09For me, it was in my previous life.
10:12Now I am the Prime Minister for almost a year and a half.
10:16But I was very sorry when I was witnessing how my students are willing to depart from the country.
10:25Why?
10:25Because simply they were missing hope.
10:29They felt hopeless.
10:31And most of them are living now in the European countries, in the EU countries.
10:39When I was elected as a Prime Minister, I said, okay, this is a hurdle.
10:46Probably there will be a lot of challenges in front of us until the very end.
10:50This is the destiny of the small nations.
10:54The big ones are doing what they can and the small ones are doing what they must.
10:58Unfortunately, we are small.
11:00But let's do our homework.
11:03Let's finish our homework.
11:04Let's create a good environment.
11:06Let's bring back home youngsters.
11:08And let's develop something that will be good for them.
11:13And let's deliver homework that will impress EU.
11:18And maybe then someone from EU will say, enough is enough.
11:22Let's do something for them.
11:23Otherwise, this is damaging our values.
11:29And practically, this does not have a future.
11:33And that's why I do believe that we need to finish our homework.
11:37And we are delivering since we were elected as a government.
11:41Thank you very much.
11:42We'll have to wrap it up here.
11:43Thank you for this experience and for sharing it with us here for the enlargement talks.
11:48That was 12 minutes with Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Ristian Mitzkovski.
Be the first to comment