I sincerely hope that the European perspective of Western Balkans remains among the priorities, but this time with a realistic outcome - the start of negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania. I hope that the French presidency will change the dynamics in the approaching Western Balkans, starting from our example. "It will be a great signal for us, but also for the whole region, as well as for restoring the trust and credibility of the EU," said the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration. Bojan Maricic at today's roundtable "Western Balkans's Accession to the EU: A Long, (Un) Completed Story - Sustainability of the Macedonian Foreign Policy Course".

Maricic stressed that the country has been in the process for years, and especially the last five years have shown an honest and open approach in implementing reforms, especially in key areas. European reports, he said, unequivocally confirm that we are successful and moving forward.

- We realized one of our strategic goals, we became a member of NATO. "Now is the time to start accession negotiations with the EU," he said, adding that reforms were continuing and the goal was to "bring" Europe home.

Any delay in the start of negotiations, Maricic said, will demotivate and demotivate the countries in the region that have open bilateral issues, which opens the possibility for regression of the reform process and stagnation of the Europeanization of societies.

He also referred to the problem with Bulgaria, pointing out once again that a new level of co-operation is beginning. "We must not let open issues continue to burden our bilateral relations and our European integration, nor hinder our European integration path," he said. However, in addition to the fact that the beginning of the negotiations is our national interest, it is also our national interest to preserve the language and identity.

- We are successfully starting a new comprehensive platform with Bulgaria, a new cooperation with new energy, strong dynamics and unprecedented dialogue in our bilateral relations so far. We expect in a positive atmosphere of mutual respect and appreciation to reach the desired results and that solution to be based on European values, with a full understanding of all open issues and reaffirmation of the positive spirit of the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness to release the negotiating framework by Bulgaria to open negotiations through realization of the first Intergovernmental Conference in the near future, adds Maricic