Let’s make our country better and provide equal opportunities for young people to be able to progress according to their abilities, have fair competition, more meritocracy, because the more we do to make things better at home, the fewer the reasons to leave, Deputy PM for European Affairs Nikola Dimitrov told a second Youth Town Hall, held Friday as part of a series of online meetings organized by the American Corners.
Dimitrov talked to young people about the benefits of the country’s EU membership and answered their questions about the accession process.
He told young people that the start of accession negotiations will give us hope, but it’s extremely important that the institutions and the youth join forces to overcome problems, the Secretariat for European Affairs said.
“It’s up to us to continue working. The membership itself won’t make us ideal overnight. The accession process is a process of reforms and tools for reforms, where we have machinery from Brussels that monitors and helps us. We have European funds that help us improve the quality of life. It’s very important – because we’re doing this for our citizens, for the next generations – that work at home doesn’t stop, regardless of the political challenges with Bulgaria. This is exactly the idea of the Agenda: Europe At Home – providing a European way, a European standard of living at home,” Dimitrov pointed out.
According to the Secretariat for European Affairs, participants in the meeting were most interested in discussing environmental issues, bilateral issues and overcoming them, youth policies, and the growing trend in emigration among young people.
Dimitrov stressed that although EU membership offers many opportunities for young people to study, live, and work in the EU countries, it also reduces the need to go abroad.
He thanked young people for their interest in participating in the discussion and told them to believe in themselves and continue to be active in areas of their interest.
In addition to high school and university students, the second online meeting of the Youth Town Hall included representatives of youth civil society organizations from Skopje, Tetovo and Shtip. The purpose of the online meetings is to enable open discussion on topics related to the European Union and North Macedonia’s accession process.
