"Let's not be pushed to solve veto-related problems by our neighbours and let's not implement constitutional changes that are nowhere to be found,"Siljanovska said.
North Macedonian President Gordana Siljanovska said Skopje should not solve the problems related to what she called the "Bulgarian veto". She also accused the European Union of not having an enlargement strategy and needing to reform itself deeply, BGNES reported.
"Let's not be pushed to solve veto-related problems by our neighbours and let's not implement constitutional changes that are nowhere to be found," Siljanovska said during a lecture at the University of Montenegro's Faculty of Law on "Western Balkan Marathon for Democracy and European Integration.
"To become part of a family, you have to share its values and principles," Siljanovska stressed.
The Macedonian president argued that the countries of the region are facing a bumpy road to European integration and the fault lies in the lack of an EU strategy.
"I don't think that some EU member states are ahead of us and therefore we should be judged by the Copenhagen criteria, and the EU needs a deep reform. It is very important that we respect standards in these processes because they will lead us to a solution," she said.
Siljanovska stressed that the countries of the region should respect each other because "if we don't respect each other, nobody will respect us".
During his lecture, the Macedonian president spoke about the standards that the civil servants should meet in order to be effective. According to her, ethnicity should not be a criterion for employment, but expertise and competence.
Siljanovska noted that when institutions are staffed on ethnic basis, there is no democracy, but "ethnocracy". | BGNES
