During a political crisis, it is necessary to have a strategic vision, wrote the British ambassador Charles Garrett in his “blog” when he replied to the reactions from his predictions that were a part of the Embassy of Great Britain’s campaign “Macedonia 2027.”
Garrett gave an explanation today that his predictions where he said that in 10 years Macedonia will be a successful European country, a leader of the countries in Balkans, with the name dispute solved and in negotiations to join the EU, are not something that one can be 100 % sure about and that those are a little bit exaggerated. “The blog was deliberately a bit unreal. If you’ve seen La La Land you probably know what I am thinking of. Sadly, it had none of that film’s music and dancing. But, like La La Land, it sought to use slightly unreal scenarios to make a serious point. The conversations I have had recently all seemed to focus exclusively on what is happening today or on what needs to be done tomorrow. In other words, very short-term. Perhaps you have noticed the same thing. I guess that is to be expected in a political crisis. But it is also true that political crisis is precisely when we most need a strategic vision. So my blog was simply a way of contributing to that wider debate about where Macedonia is going, wrote Garrett in his new article.
He states that the feedback to the campaign was fantastic and that the citizens had different views about Macedonia’s future, but also most of the opinions matched with the country’s strategic goals such as EU and NATO membership.
“Like my original blog, some of these ideas might seem unreal, a bit like La La Land. However, as the saying goes, it seems impossible until it is done. I would like to thank everyone for their feedback and for taking the time to read the blog. Who knows, maybe one day Wales and Macedonia will be cooperating on green energy, Macedonia will be leading by example on the Rule of Law, and the world will be communicating with an app developed in a town in Macedonia. Well, why not? #Macedonia2027 #Македонија2027 #Maqedonia2027.”
In his first writing about Macedonia in the year 2027, Garrett “bravely” predicted that by then a woman would take the place of a Prime Minister, the country would be a member of EU and NATO and the dispute with the name will be solved.
The former minister of internal affairs, Gordana Jankulovska, used her twitter account to mock Garrett’s blog by saying: “He showed himself in the present and now he started working with the future.”
