El ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Macedonia del Norte, Timčo Mucunski, ha declarado a 'The Europe Conversation' de 'Euronews' que está dando prioridad a su asociación con Estados Unidos, al tiempo que sigue intentando ingresar en la UE.
Categoría
🗞
NoticiasTranscripción
00:00¡Suscríbete al canal!
00:30¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:00¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:02¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:34¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:36¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:38¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:40¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:42¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:44¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:46¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:48¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:50¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:52¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:54¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:56¡Suscríbete al canal!
01:58¡Suscríbete al canal!
02:00¡Suscríbete al canal!
02:02¡Suscríbete al canal!
02:04¡Suscríbete al canal!
02:06¡Suscríbete al canal!
02:08¡Suscríbete al canal!
02:10¡Suscríbete al canal!
02:12¡Suscríbete al canal!
02:14¡Suscríbete al canal!
02:16¡Suscríbete al canal!
02:18Muchas ciudades tienen una veto, así que, si te gusta o no, el tema de la violencia tiene que ser resolvido en alguna manera.
02:23¿Vale habrá una inclusión para la minoría de la minoría de la constitución de Norte Macedonia?
02:29El problema es mucho más que la inclusión de la minoría de la minoría de la minoría.
02:34Y voy a tratar de explicar esto en un nutshell.
02:37Primero, ¿quién tiene lo más que ganar de nuestro país de ser un miembro de un miembro de un miembro de un miembro de un miembro de un miembro?
02:41Of course, first, it's us, without a doubt, but secondary, it is the countries around us that are member states of the European Union,
02:48and here I mean Greece and Bulgaria directly.
02:52Now, in these more than 30 years of an EU path, we have made extremely difficult compromises, as I've mentioned many times before.
03:00We've changed our flag, we've changed our currency, we've changed our constitution several times, we've even changed the name of our country.
03:07All with the promise of a window of opportunity that we've been told existed, if we do these changes, for our path towards the European Union.
03:16And thus, the question and the dilemma that we pose to both EU institutions as well as the member states is,
03:23will this be the final compromise?
03:25Will we know that if these constitutional amendments are made, six months down the road, a year down the road,
03:32again there will not be a veto because of a bilateral issue.
03:36Why we pose this question, first of all, to protect our own national interests, to not allow issues related to language, history, identity,
03:44to engulf our EU accession process, but also at the end of the day to protect the credibility of European enlargement in the entire region,
03:53because there are malign actors out there who like to point the finger and say,
03:57do you really believe that the EU is honest in its intention for enlargement?
04:02Look at what they're doing to the Macedonians.
04:03And then we also had the Prespa Agreement, which resolved the issue around Greece,
04:07but we have heard in the past, or recently, some ministers refusing to use the name North Macedonia,
04:14which again will create problems and confrontations with Greece. Is that an issue still?
04:19I mean, if I speak personally, as an individual, and I remove myself from the position that I have,
04:25then I will never be able to say to you that I am happy with the Prespa Agreement,
04:28that I believe the Prespa Agreement is good, or that I believe the changing of the name of a nation is fair,
04:34especially in the 21st century.
04:36But at the end of the day, as foreign minister and as a lawyer,
04:40I understand that the principle of pacta sunt servanda,
04:44and that agreements must be kept, especially in international public law,
04:48is a fundamental principle.
04:49And in that sense, we are a nation that will respect its obligations,
04:55but also a nation that expects its partners, its neighbours in the region,
05:00to also respect obligations in these agreements that they've made towards us.
05:05Okay, because you mentioned there, pacta sunt servanda,
05:07agreements should be kept, and one of the issues that the EU has with North Macedonia
05:12and joining the EU is around the rule of law, independence of the judiciary,
05:16various types of corruption, and obviously that's hugely problematic
05:20because all EU member states will point to the deficiencies in the EU
05:24when they had the last bout of enlargement,
05:26particularly countries like Hungary, Slovakia, and so on.
05:30So, where is North Macedonia with making this, making greater progress on this?
05:35So, this is one of the key priorities of our government.
05:38Our government was formed less than a year ago,
05:40and it has taken very direct steps towards fighting corruption,
05:46both high-level corruption, but also corruption that exists in mid-level
05:50and low-level civil service, establishing a system of rule of law,
05:55but this is not something that we can do overnight.
05:57And I would once again reiterate, it is also a whole-of-society effort.
06:02It's not just about the executive delivering,
06:04but it's about a cultural change that has to happen within the judicial system.
06:09It's about bringing on board civil society and various different actors.
06:14And how long will that take?
06:15Because, I mean, this has been on the agenda for, as you mentioned, 20, 21 years.
06:19Regrettably, it's been on the agenda in rhetoric for maybe more than 30 years,
06:24but substantially very little has been done.
06:28This is a process where we need to establish clear timeframes.
06:33Many of these types of timeframes going into the micro and meso aspects of these issues
06:38have already been done for us with the help of the European Union and European Union experts.
06:43And then we need to start delivering, because this delivery is about government doing its job,
06:50but it's about creating this, as I said, cultural change within society,
06:54which helps stimulate investment, which helps stimulate entrepreneurship,
06:59which puts young people in a situation where they don't want to leave the country,
07:05because many young people are departing, not just because of economic reasons,
07:09but because of an infunctional system of governance,
07:12and also hopefully put our country in a situation where young people that are living abroad want to come back,
07:19invest in the country, build families in the country,
07:23take part in political activities in the country.
07:26I mean, this is a priority of our government.
07:27I want to move on to the NATO foreign ministers meeting you hear.
07:31First of all, can I ask you a little bit about Russian interference in North Macedonia?
07:35I mean, one of the reasons why enlargement needs to happen quickly, they say,
07:39is because the countries in the Western Balkans need to be brought into the EU,
07:42away from the Russian orbit.
07:43Is that something that you would agree with that narrative, that premise?
07:46I think enlargement needs to happen for many reasons.
07:50But one of these reasons, from a security perspective,
07:55is, of course, the malign Russian influence that has been existing in our region that is there.
08:01I sometimes like to very openly point out that Russian influence,
08:06especially in our region, comes very cheap, and they know how to utilize it.
08:10Is it through social media? Can you tell us a little bit about hybrid cyber attacks? What is it?
08:14It's a mix of all of the very conventional methods, if I can label them,
08:19that Russia does use, and that happens in our region as well.
08:23And does it impact young people's viewpoints? Does it impact political parties?
08:27What is the upshot for countries like North Macedonia?
08:32So I think, first of all, generally our society and our political establishment,
08:38going from government to opposition, is extremely pro-EU.
08:41And society wants to move forward towards EU membership.
08:47But one of the things that happens is when there's lack of clarity coming from the European Union
08:52and the member states, especially our issue as a prime example,
08:56then you will have Russian influence utilizing this to say,
09:01listen, the EU is not honest.
09:03It will never integrate the region.
09:05And if there's lack of delivery, credible delivery on the other side,
09:10then it's a battle that the pro-EU forces in our country have to wage
09:15with these various different spheres of influence that do exist and that will be utilized.
09:21I think one of the reasons why the EU needs to be very quick and expedient in its delivery
09:27to the entire region is to show that the clarity is there, the strategic vision is there.
09:34Can I ask you then, why did your country abstain on the UN resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine?
09:41So our country, I like to point out, has three constants in its foreign policy.
09:46One of them is 100% alignment with the EU's common foreign and security policy.
09:52The second is our membership in NATO.
09:55And the third is our strategic partnership.
09:58We have a formal strategic partnership with the United States.
10:01In this situation, what I can say is that we have been one of the most consistent supporters of Ukraine.
10:07From the NATO member states, we are one of the biggest supporters per GDP per capita for Ukraine
10:13in terms of defense and security support.
10:16But in this current situation, because there was no alignment within the CFSP, within the European Union,
10:22we chose to vote aligned with our strategic partner, the United States,
10:27which means that we do support Ukraine, and we do support the necessity for protecting Ukraine's integrity
10:34and territorial sovereignty.
10:36But we also agree that there needs to be a path towards peace.
10:41So even that decision was in line with the very consistent foreign policy that we've had as a nation.
10:46How do you find, then, the negotiations so far, where it appears that very little concessions,
10:53actually no concessions, have been applied to Russia from the United States and several to Ukraine,
10:58whether it's their energy systems, whether they're critical minerals, whether it's about a ceasefire.
11:04I mean, how do you see the U.S. treatment of Ukraine vis-à-vis the negotiations?
11:08So the perception that I have is that Ukraine is on board with this process and is actively taking part in this process.
11:16And at the end of the day, Ukraine is a sovereign nation that must make decisions for itself.
11:22What I can say is that we, as a NATO member country, support the path towards peace.
11:27It seems very obvious right now that the United States has a path towards peace, which they believe is viable.
11:34And in that sense, considering that Ukraine is on board with this process,
11:38we absolutely support the process that is being led by the Trump administration,
11:43Secretary Rubio, as well as the whole team, in finding a peaceful solution as soon as possible.
11:49Okay. Foreign Minister Tim Chomachinsky of North Macedonia, thank you very much for joining us.
11:53Thank you very much for the invitation.
11:55Thank you so much.