The President of Northern Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, recently stated that the Macedonian identity and language are not and cannot be the subject of negotiations.
In an interview with Serbian media, Pendarovski stressed that the process of developing our identity and language does not differ from the development of languages and cultures of neighboring nations.
“Northern Macedonia, compared to its neighbors, concretized its statehood recently through a complex process of war for national liberation and emancipation, and perhaps that factor has a major impact on some negative tendencies in a part of the public and politicians in neighboring countries. “However, our citizenship and our standard language are a complete process and that fact must be accepted by all, as a key step towards building cooperation, given that all neighboring countries have the same strategic orientation in the European Union.” said Pendarovski.
Regarding the obstacles on the European path of Northern Macedonia and countries in the region, Pendarovski said that the Republic of Northern Macedonia made difficult compromises in order to become a full member of NATO and in the future a member of the EU. , reports AIM from Belgrade.
“EU membership is crucial for the overall development of all countries and we have no real alternative to European integration. However, the region’s integration into the EU is also a strategic interest for the European Union itself, as well as a geopolitical issue, in the context of efforts to strengthen the EU’s role as an actor in the international order. The EU has made a clear promise to countries in the region that they have a European perspective since the Thessaloniki Summit 2003. Efforts to deliver on this promise are also a matter of the Union’s own credibility. “We often hear about enlargement fatigue, which is understandable from the point of view of daily politics, but strategically, the European project will not end without our region integrating into the EU.” he has expressed among other things.
He also praised the talks with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev in Skopje and Rome as a positive signal for the relations between the two countries and the reduction of tension that has been heated in various ways in the past period.
“I believe that it is in the interest of both countries, but also of the EU itself, to find a way out of the situation as soon as possible, and in that context we appreciate the efforts of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU. of. We consider their proposal as a solid basis for further development of the talks. Both countries have the ability to resolve issues through dialogue. In fact, we confirmed this with the signing of the Good Neighborliness and Cooperation Agreement with Bulgaria in 2017, which is a very important agreement and is the basis for building relations and further cooperation between the two countries and bringing the two closer. people“, Said Pendarovski.
He adds that the position of ethnic Albanians, citizens of Northern Macedonia, is not part of a regional Albanian issue, but is part of our internal constitutional and political order.
