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"Serbia has a huge influence in Macedonian society through "Open Balkan". This harms not only Macedonians and Albanians, but also the whole country. After the elections, I will ask for dynamics in the process of constitutional changes and to leave "Open Balkan".
This was stated by Arben Taravari, the candidate for president of North Macedonia from the VREDI coalition, in an interview with Radio Free Europe.
"If I win the elections, the first thing I would do is go to Brussels and ask European politicians to give us guarantees that there will be no other conditions for Macedonia to continue on the European path. Secondly, it depends on who will be the future mandate holder. I would call him to ask him to give impetus to the constitutional changes and to start them immediately. Thirdly, I would ask the political parties and the government to leave the "Open Balkan" as a project because there is no one left in it except Macedonia and Serbia," Taravari explained.
Constitutional changes
"The position of the European Union and the European Commission is that Macedonia will start negotiations only if constitutional changes are made - this is an indisputable fact. I also said in June 2022, when the European proposal for the agreement between Macedonia and Bulgaria was adopted - all these negotiations were opaque. However, the adopted proposal has no alternative," said the politician.
Serbian influence in RSM
"I have no evidence of Russian influence. But I know that there is a large Serbian influence in Macedonia, which is unequivocal, especially through the 'Open Balkans'. Serbia's influence is huge in Macedonian society. It does not only harm Macedonians or only Albanians, but of the country as a whole," explained the presidential candidate.
"Serbia has very good relations with Russia, it is their closest country from the Western Balkans. If there is Russian influence in Macedonia, then it goes through Serbia," he added.
According to Taravari, in the period 1998-2002, "Belgrade's influence in Macedonia was at its weakest when Ljubco Georgievski and Arben Xhaferi were in power."
The politician pointed out that Skopje's membership in NATO is a "good prevention for the country".
"More and more politicians cannot obtain certain credentials, especially those who work in the security structures of the state, which are under the control of NATO. There is no better control than that which NATO can have on the reduction of Russian influence in Macedonia . We must continue to be members of the Alliance, but also try to be part of the European Union. The more we strive for the EU, the less will be the influence of the structures that do not think the good of Macedonia," said Alben Taravari . He noted that under the paragraph "corruption" North Macedonia is among the "worst countries" in the Western Balkans, calling for judicial reform.
The "VREDI" candidate still has no answer as to who planted a bullet in front of his home door two months ago. Then he split with fellow party member Ziadin Sela, and their party, the Alliance of Albanians, split into two wings.
Taravari believes that he has an advantage over his direct competitor Buyar Osmani from the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) because he has not been involved in "scandals and affairs".
Commenting on Ziadin Sela's accusations against him that he is a "puppet of VMRO-DPMNE", Taravari stated:
"Our paths diverged, but I still respect him because we have worked together for many years. I have never been someone's puppet in my life. I did not allow myself to be Sela's puppet, so I cannot be a puppet of VMRO-DPMNE or other party. Time will tell who thought right, and the citizen will show who was right in our case, after we parted."
Arben Taravari has indicated that if he loses the election, he will retire from politics.
BGNES reminds that the parliamentary elections in RSM will be held on May 8, Wednesday, together with the second round of the presidential elections. On April 24, the first round of presidential elections will take place. /BGNES
