We have received a 10th recommendation to start negotiations, if we are expected to wait for an 11th recommendation from the European Commission next year, I will be to embarrassed to face my people and talk about the European perspectives of the country. If we do not start accession negotiations this year, to mean, it means that there is no European perspective, after all that we have achieved in two years.
This was stated by Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Dimitrov during a panel discussion in Stockholm, dedicated to development in the Western Balkan countries with a focus on the EU perspective.
“In a region with such rich history, we managed to produce a future, and the two narratives are competitive, one is for a European future and for things that are important today: health, education, freedom of the media, more jobs and decent wages. The other is the competition for who is the eldest, the greater victim, who has more enemies, who had more glorious victories or defeats in the past, but it is all used as a cover to hide abuse of power and corruption. That’s why the big question for Europe is, what to do with this region and whether to deliver when the countries deliver. This process is not a one-way street, and I think we cannot take any shortcuts, but when countries deliver, Europe must deliver, too, because otherwise we will not have a process”, Dimitrov said.
He added that “if Europe fails to recognize the progress we have made to start the journey, and if after the delay of the decision in June 2018 and June this year, and there is a new delay in October and the European Council says” no “, then we should admit that there is no European perspective.”
