Premierminister Mickoski: Nordmazedonien auf dem Weg zur EU-Mitgliedschaft „schikaniert“
Nach mehr als zwei Jahrzehnte in der Warteschleife der EU-Mitgliedschaft hofft Nordmazedonien jetzt, dass das Warten endlich ein Ende hat. Ministerpräsident Mickoski erklärte gegenüber Euronews, dass der Beitritt seines Landes durch „künstliche Streitigkeiten“ verzögert worden sei.
LESEN SIE MEHR : http://de.euronews.com/2025/11/10/premierminister-mickoski-nordmazedonien-auf-dem-weg-zur-eu-mitgliedschaft-schikaniert
00:00This is indeed Euronews' new format, 12 Minutes with, and we are going to have 12 Minutes with Christian Mitskoski, Prime Minister of North Macedonia.
00:17Thank 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.
03:40And if 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?
04:55What 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?
05:08Or 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.
05:24Who we are politicians to judge whether someone's rights has been violated or not.
05:30We can only misuse that issue.
05:32The real institution, which is judging whether someone's rights has been violated or not, is in Strasbourg.
05:38And what European Court for Human Rights says, during the last couple of years,
05:4614 times in a favor of Macedonian community in Bulgaria,
05:52and zero times in a favor of Bulgarian community in my country.
05:59So, then there is another question, additional question.
06:02Why we should change our constitution then?
06:04Why 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.
06:21We are not talking about 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
06:38accepted that deal to change constitution, suspending the parliament in my country,
06:45suspending the voice of the parliament in my country,
06:49and they are now in the history.
06:52There is a new government, and this new government is saying,
06:54okay, those guys, those ladies and gentlemen, accept it.
07:02But what about international law?
07:05What about resolution that is protecting human rights in the countries
07:11which 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,
07:25or explain it to them?
07:27You mean about the Bulgarian community?
07:31Community.
07:31They have all the rights.
07:33Our constitution is that like.
07:36They have literally all the rights.
07:38Practically, they are a part of our institutions.
07:43But okay, again, I'm 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,
08:05who 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?
08:23I 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,
08:37as we've heard with the president of Ukraine and the Hungarian.
08:39I'm talking about the past.
08:41About the current situation, I'm not surprised.
08:44I'm not surprised that the similar situation will occur in the future.
08:47Because if someone is witnessing that this veto tool works,
08:54then we should apply the same recipe.
08:57Why not?
08:58Because if someone dares to bully someone else who wants to join the club,
09:04why the other should be silent?
09:07This is not normal.
09:08If we are accepting that principle once,
09:12then this principle will destroy all the values
09:16developed by the Gasperi, Schumann and Adonauer
09:19when this organization was developed.
09:23So, the European Union itself should ask themselves
09:27what we are doing.
09:30What we are doing with this unanimity.
09:33And is it according to the principles and values
09:36based on which we have been developed?
09:40And in this current situation,
09:42my final question to you would be
09:44how disappointing it is for average Macedonians
09:49to, as you say, for over two decades
09:51to be, these are generations
09:53who have been waiting for over two decades
09:55and yet facing these roadblocks.
09:57Are they losing the motivation to join the European Union?
10:01No, definitely.
10:02The support is the highest in the region, maybe,
10:04or among the highest in the region.
10:06I'm working as a professor and teaching mechatronics.
10:09For me, it was in my previous life.
10:12Now I'm the Prime Minister for almost a year and a half.
10:17But I was very sorry when I was witnessing
10:21how 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,
10:38in the EU countries.
10:41When I was elected as a Prime Minister,
10:43I said, okay, this is a hurdle.
10:46Probably there will be a lot of challenges
10:48in 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
10:56and the small ones are doing what they must.
10:58Unfortunately, we are small.
11:01But 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,
11:20enough is enough.
11:22Let's do something for them.
11:24Otherwise, this is damaging our values
11:28and practically, this does not have a future.
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