Mrs. Eli Bojadjieska Ristovski:

I thank Senator Keogan for her question. The Senator is correct. There is, indeed, an overall perception in the country that the country has paid a very high price for the start of the accession negotiations. It is a fact that the Opposition does not support the French-brokered deal with Bulgaria that the Government has accepted and that has now been implemented in order to start the accession negotiations and have the first intergovernmental conference. It is true that this is creating a difficult political situation in the country but let me assure the Senator that my country's leadership has demonstrated great courage and great vision for the European future of the country despite the strong opposition from the political parties in the Opposition.

We had a deepened dialogue with Bulgaria led by the two foreign ministries. At the end, we believe that we have found an amicable solution which makes both sides equally satisfied and equally dissatisfied. The commitment that the Government has undertaken is to amend the constitution and include the Bulgarians as one of the founding peoples of the country along with Montenegrins and Croatians. So far, we have the Turks, the Albanians, the Vlachs and the Roma. We expect that all political actors and political parties, especially members of the parliament, should work together to advance any EU reforms because the parliament has and will have the key role in the accession process. Political parties have to work together. It requires a two thirds majority to change the constitution in the parliament which, for now, is lacking but I am convinced that the Government will spare no efforts in communicating the benefits of the EU integration process and to convince the public that the negotiating framework is in line with our national interests because the national identity is preserved, the Macedonian language is preserved and history has been kept out of the negotiating process. It will need to have a bottom-up approach to explain properly, to persuade the citizens and to gradually change their minds and their mindsets. It will be a battle of hearts and minds. All the members of the parliament and the political parties have to be up to their task and see the main interests of the country, which is the EU accession.

If I may say so on a personal level, the EU should double its presence in the country with concrete programmes with visible tangible results, for example, in infrastructure in connectivity, that will speak of the advantages to showcase that there are tangible deliverables of this accession process in order that we can create a positive momentum in our society.