go to the original language article
“`html
Skopje – Leave emotion, leave bilateral issues that cause emotion, let’s talk about bilateral cooperation from which we will have tangible results based on progressive progress, this is part of the message from Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski after the Summit in Brussels.
Asked if he is optimistic after the visit to Brussels, Mickoski emphasized that what he says as an argument in public, partially or completely, he also expressed in meetings with European representatives.
– I do not receive counterarguments from my interlocutors, because a counterargument is not, you know, 27 need to decide. I’m talking about a plan, which is not just a plan for the first step. I am prepared to discuss a plan, which will take us to the end, because we as a country are not like all candidates, you have to admit that. Because for more than two and a half decades we have been part of this process. We have been candidates for almost two decades and no one has had bilateral agreements in their negotiating framework so far, Mickoski stated.
He noted that no country has changed its flag, banknotes, or name as our country has done, and all of this creates frustration among citizens. Mickoski pointed out that in Brussels he emphasized that we need to talk about education, economy, tourism, knowledge transfer, because, as he said, “here we can come to an expected result.”
– But if we talk about identity questions… then emotion happens, and when emotion happens you cannot come to a rational solution i.e., you cannot come to a solution, Mickoski stated.
Asked if he had a meeting with the technical Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Dimitar Glavchev, Mickoski answered that upon leaving after the working session, they greeted each other.
– Simply, if that is considered a meeting, after the end of the working session upon exit, he greeted me and told me that I had an excellent performance, excellent speech, and that relations between the two countries should be built in that way. I responded excellently to that, let’s lift the barrier in the near future, so that we can start negotiating and to that, I received the answer “you know in our Parliament everyone is against you.” Here approximately was the conversation, if this is a conversation, that we had, these were, literally I quote, the few sentences we exchanged, Mickoski said. (December 20)
“`