Mickoski at the UN podium: Three strategic determinations — NATO, partnership with the U.S., full EU membership

North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski addressed the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday (September 25, 2026), presenting the country’s three key strategic determinations: an ally in NATO, a strategic partnership with the United States of America, and full membership in the European Union. “Macedonian citizens know where they belong. We are allies in NATO,” Mickoski declared from the UN podium, as Faktor reports.

According to the Macedonian premier, his country will not choose “strategic ambiguity” in a world where competition among great powers is intensifying again and the global order is entering a period of major change. Mickoski stressed that in this new international reality, North Macedonia clearly knows which side it is on and remains firmly on the Euro-Atlantic path.

On European integration, Mickoski said the process has moved “beyond any reasonable deadline”. He stressed that Macedonia is not giving up on EU membership, but expects the process to remain merit-based, with clear rules and measurable criteria. “We are not asking for an easier road — we are asking for a rules-based road,” was his direct message to Brussels. The prime minister also expressed pride in a “multi-ethnic and multi-confessional Macedonia”, describing coexistence as a fundamental value of the state.

Corridors VIII and X also took an important place in the speech. Their development, according to Mickoski, is part of the broader European vision of linking the Adriatic, the Black Sea and the Aegean with Central Europe — an opportunity for North Macedonia to turn its geographic position into a strategic advantage and strengthen its role as a connecting bridge in the region.