The EU enlargement process must be conducted through the merit of the candidates, and not based on bilateral issues, said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski during a meeting of Balkan and EU representatives in Tirana. The Prime Minister was speaking about the Bulgarian blockade of Macedonia’s EU accession process.

We are in this process for 25 years – 20 years as a candidate country. I don’t wish to anyone to go through what we’ve been through on our European path. Once this exception becomes the rule, it will be applied by EU member states on other candidates, and turns into practice. There is no point if the bilateral disputes determine who becomes an EU member state, Mickoski said, asking that Macedonia is valued on the reforms, delivery and the merit.

The Prime Minister said that after the delays of the local elections, eight to 10 of the remaining steps of the development plan will be implemented, adding that two steps are problematic – one of them the demand to cut electricity price subsidies which Mickoski said could increase prices between 35 and 40 percent. The call for changes to the electoral code are also pending, because of the long procedures in Parliament and the opportunities for filibustering from the opposition parties.