Sekerinska: We are not interfering in other countries’ affairs, strategic decisions are ours

“Talks with Greece are ongoing, the foreign ministers are in Vienna, we want to hope and will do everything so that Macedonia is constructive and contributes to a successful process”, said Vice Prim and Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska on Friday.

Sekerinska told reporters after a visit to the Military Medical Center that good relations with neighbors should be tackled even without the EU and NATO accession objective in mind.

“We are investing in good relations with all neighbors, including Greece. Macedonia paid a high price from the 2008 Greek veto. However, what we learned over the past decade should help us in finding a solution. We believe that Greece will benefit from our EU and NATO accession, and we should provide mutual support as good neighbors,” stressed Sekerinska.

She said recent statements coming from Russia are not that positive, but are not surprising either.

“We want to foster good relations with Russia, but we tell everyone, both neighbors and other countries – we take our own strategic decisions,” said Sekerinska.

According to her, Macedonia has expressed its commitment to EU and NATO accession since 1992.

“We are not interfering in the affairs of other countries, but we want our decisions to be just that – ours. This is the way to defend sovereignty and homeland,” underlined Sekerinska.