The analysis of public opinion on the Macedonian process of accession to the EU is not the only research that has been done on this topic that indicates that there is a decline in trust towards the EU. On the contrary, in that part, the research done in our country is quite consistent and shows exactly this trajectory. But above all, I would like to be careful about the qualification for the "record low level" of trust in the EU, because it is alluded to first hand that such trust does not actually exist. On the contrary, the actual situation is that trust in the European Union in the country is still dominantly majority and high. But not as high as it was in the past, he said Marko Troshanovski from the Institute for Democracy "Societas Civilis" during his appearance on the show "Morning Press".

- Another interesting fact that can be singled out about the decline of trust in the EU is that in the past years we actually have a stabilization of this phenomenon. In other words, the population's trust in the EU is still at a high level and in recent years it has been constantly moving from 64 percent among the citizens, who believe that Macedonia still belongs in the European Union. A positive thing to highlight in the research is our perception that in the country there is an increase in the perception among citizens that the Union is still our best ally. In terms of numbers, we have about a 20 percent increase in citizens' opinions that the Union is an influential player and the only true partner of Macedonia - explains Troshanovski.

Troshanovski pointed out why in the research of the Institute for Democracy there is a significant gap between the two largest ethnic communities in the country regarding the level of support for the country's membership in the EU.

- Unfortunately, the division of society on ethnic basis is increasing, which is what these data from the conducted analysis speak about. No matter how much we want to create a romantic story about a society, apparently the parties, especially those from the Albanian bloc, are deepening the ethnic conflicts between people and that coexistence is significantly shaken this period. Regarding why the support is different, I want to add that it is because the process of accession to the EU for the Macedonians implied identity concessions, including the Prespa agreement, but also the later French agreement that referred to the beginning of the negotiations with the Union - pointed out the head of "Societas Civilis".

According to the findings of the Institute of Democracy, a large part of Macedonians are opposed to the constitutional amendments, which are the only condition for the time being for the continuation of the negotiations, for which Troshanovki claims that such an attitude among the Macedonians is the result of the omissions in the policies of the EU when it comes to the enlargement towards the country.

- This resistance to the constitutional amendments stems from people's perception that there is still a hidden motive for the insistence on inserting the Bulgarians into the Constitution. And that at the same time it will not be the only obstacle that Macedonia will face in the negotiation part with the Union - explained Troshanovski.

Troshanovski points out that pressures for early elections will grow at home, but at the same time he stressed that he is opposed to the country entering another early election cycle.

- I am against the idea that Macedonia should have early elections at any cost and according to the practice that the country cultivates regarding this issue, which is that every parliamentary majority fails to see its mandate to the end. After all, a political set gets a mandate to run the country for the next four years. He can do it well from the beginning to the end, but vice versa, it can be good at the beginning and later become disastrous and vice versa. In none of these cases should it be an excuse for early elections, because the state must not enter into endless election cycles from year to year and thereby obstruct the democratic processes, whatever they are - concluded Troshanovski.

In the show, Troshanovski talked about the arrival of Josep Borel in Macedonia, what would be the possible outcomes of the meeting in Ohrid between the Serbian and Kosovar delegations, but also about how much the Open Balkans has the potential to create an environment for reconciliation and the implementation of Euro-Atlantic values.

Watch more of the conversation in the video below...