"When the Region Moves Forward and We Do Nothing — That Is Going Backwards": Filipche Warns the Country Could Also Lose the European Millions
The only country in the region without an open negotiating chapter, false fears about identity, and the risk of European funds slipping away — the brutal balance sheet Filipche laid on the table.
While the neighbors line up open chapters and draw billions from European funds, the country stands nailed in place — and standing still, the president of the National Council for European Integration Venko Filipche warned, is no longer a neutral position.
"Every day we watch the region move forward. Unfortunately, we are standing still. When the region moves forward and we do nothing — that is also going backwards," Filipche stated at the Council's session.
The figure he repeated is painful for every citizen who has waited for a European perspective for nearly three decades: not a single negotiating chapter opened. "We are the only country that has not opened a negotiating chapter," he reminded.
Filipche also struck at the narratives with which, as he put it, the public was frightened in the past. Time, he argued, has exposed them as unfounded: "What has been debunked are, I would rather say, false announcements and policies by the current government — first, that identity and language are threatened by the Prespa Agreement." Neither identity nor language, he stressed, is endangered — and the fear that was spread served only domestic political purposes.
The most concrete warning, however, concerned the money. If the government does not show "desire, will and concrete directions — steps for continuing the European path," the country risks losing the funds from European programs earmarked for reforms and development.
The message is clear: every lost month is not merely symbolic stagnation but concrete economic damage — less investment, less infrastructure, and a smaller chance for the coming generations to catch up with Europe.
