Republic of Macedonia has been an EU membership candidate since 2005, and the advantage of the seven-year wait for an accession talks date is that the country has built institutional capacities that would enable its easier overcoming of challenges during the negotiations.

The launch of the accession negotiations will also help us in the settlement of other challenges, such as bilateral issues, said Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki in the address at Friday's conference of think-tank organizations from the region and the EU, organized by the Skopje-based Center for Research and Policy Making.

"Majority of difficult issues have already been completed in Macedonia in the early stages, leaving less for the phase of accession negotiations. The accession talks have lost the concept of a two-way street. Taking in consideration the Acquis and its volume, they are reduced to meeting requirements rather than negotiations. In practice, the country is not negotiating, but delivering results in order to confirm harmonization with the European law", said FM Poposki.

According to him, another advantage is that Macedonian citizens are realistic when it comes to expectations from the EU membership.

"Citizens are aware that EU accession does not mean others solving our problems, but constant challenge of demonstrating capacity to solve issues at national, regional and European level", added Poposki.

He said Macedonia's public support to Euro-integration exceeds 90 percent, but what is needed is a campaign for elaboration of the EU processes and raising the awareness on the Union values.

"When they ask us if we truly want to join the EU, taking into consideration there are Union countries, which have gone bankrupt, the answer to this is logical - EU is the most successful peace project on the continent. On the other hand, we need to be more realistic when it comes to what EU can offer to us - peace, prosperity and stability - but it cannot solve your problems related to debts and structural reforms", stressed Poposki.

The FM said public opinion in member-states should be influenced into increasing its support to the EU enlargement process, having in mind current developments related to the GDP drop, need for structural reforms or population ageing.

"In this context, one cannot expect that EU enlargement with a group of Western Balkan states, small and having limited potentials, is a popular topic. We need to remind them that the focus is on the peace project, whereas enlarging the area of peace and prosperity on the Balkans would result in more peace and prosperity for Europe, as well as the power of the European idea for development of democracy, where time and energy are worth investing", added Poposki.

He urged for debate within the civil society over the Euro-integration process, contributing through proposals and alternatives on policies, thus having an effect on the dynamics of the integration process up to full-fledged membership.