Distinguished Attendees,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

As President of the Republic of Macedonia, I am honored to address this jubilee Paneuropean Union Congress. Among you, I feel like among friends of Macedonia. Therefore, I feel free to speak frankly.

This year 2016, the Republic of Macedonia celebrates a quarter of a century of independence. From the very beginning, we have agreed on our top strategic goals - membership in NATO and the European Union. Therefore, we have been committed to liberalization of economy, pluralism in politics and Europeanization of society.

What makes Europe so attractive? Ever since the Humanism and Renaissance, until the Industrial Revolution, Europe was the teacher of the world. Europe is the cultural and civilization space that has given the world many geniuses, creators and builders who discovered the secrets of nature and the depth of human creativity.

Here, in Europe, the most important debates were led on human rights and freedoms and the right to human dignity that originated in the Judeo-Christian idea of the innate value of every individual. For the last 60 years here, in Europe, the three things that everyone seeks: freedom, justice and peace - have been reality.

The first value is freedom. Here, in our Europe, for almost eight centuries, the thought of Alighieri that "humanity is at its best when there is the highest degree of freedom" echoes, along with the one that freedom is not only physical, but intellectual and spiritual. It is not by coincidence that in 1993, here, in our Europe, the European Court of Human Rights pointed out that freedom of thought, conscience and religion is the foundation of every democratic society.

The second value is justice. In his Corpus Iuris Civilis, Justinian stressed that justice is an unchanging and permanent desire to live honorably, not to harm anybody and give everyone what they deserve. We naturally strive for a just society, in which we all have equal rights and shared responsibilities. Driven by the desire for justice, our societies in the Balkans began to transform and implement the European standards, criteria and values. As a region we were directed towards the European Union.

Here we come to the third universal value - peace. One of the fathers of Europe, Jean Monnet said: "To build Europe is to build peace". I will add to this that European peace is nothing but concern for the welfare and dignity of the citizens. The Balkans is an excellent example of the transformative power. The European Union served as a magnet that attracted and mutually linked those in quarrel and even the Balkan countries at war. At a time of high expectations of the promises given, Balkan countries began to cooperate and build mutual trust.

These three values created conditions for economic prosperity of Europe. As one of the world's largest economies, the European Union has become the engine of global wealth. It has contributed to making Europe a super-power of lifestyle, attractive to many people in pursuit of happiness. In part, one might say that even the migrant crisis occurred due to the attractiveness of Europe. The intention of migrants was to come to the countries of European lifestyle superiority and thus be in a world where they will lead a much safer and more dignified life.

Today, many of these European benefits are in question.

Distinguished Attendees,

The year 2017 will mark six decades since the Treaties of Rome and a decade of the Treaty of Lisbon. In this period of 50 years, the European Union worked well. But the global financial and debt crisis of 2008 changed everything. The first time the EU faced a serious crisis, troubles began. The situation today is not good.

Due to the enlargement fatigue, the attractive power of the Union declined. Although the cultural and civilization roots of the idea of Europe are in the Balkans, the European Union has long neglected its roots. It left the Balkans disintegrated, outside of the European mainstreams. This is reflected on the Balkans and on the European Union itself.

The indecisiveness of the European Union and NATO to unblock the Republic of Macedonia's integration was a major reason for the political crisis in Macedonia that culminated this year. Nevertheless, the Republic of Macedonia is no exception. Almost all countries in the region face some kind of internal instability: political and economic crisis, early elections and even security threats and frequent terrorist attacks. There are again retrograde processes in the Balkans. The rhetoric used between Balkan countries is worsening by the day.

The European Union has veered off the course drawn by the founding fathers of Europe, which is building peace through cooperation, integration and enlargement. The integration engine seems to have remained out of fuel. The Union is burdened with more and more bureaucracy. Common European policies, institutions and mechanisms are losing the traction forces of the 28, soon to be 27 Member States. The terrain through which the Union passes now is highly unpredictable. The world is increasingly divided, dangerous and disoriented.

Europe faces the unresolved financial and debt crisis, the current migrant crisis and the increasingly serious security crisis. The gap between the common goals of the European Union and the specific interests of Member States has grown deeper. With the Brexit, instead of unity and enlargement, the Union slowly began to fragment and reduce.

In such complex conditions, it became fashionable to make apocalyptic predictions about the future of the European Union. Eurosceptics everywhere are booming. The Union is referred to as an unsuccessful project doomed to fail. The problem with such predictions is that they are often self-attainable. If we only lament the collapse of the Union, without offering viable solutions to the problems, at the end, those predictions will come true.

"Europe is not just a continent, it is also an idea. This idea is called Freedom". These words of Coudenhove-Kalergi were written in 1933. It was the year when Nazism came to power, which, along with fascism is the biggest enemy of freedom, of Europe and of humanity in general. At a time when many had given up on Europe, Count Kalergi believed in Europe.

Therefore, we should praise the deeds of Count Kalergi, von Habsburg, Schuman, Monnet, Adenauer and other founders of Europe. Let us not be slaves of the current mood of pessimism and fear. Fear is the filter through which we perceive only threats, not opportunities ahead. The crisis is a consequence of unused and missed opportunities. I personally believe the current crises are also opportunities for Europe.

This is the right time for a change, to recreate the European Union. This is the right time for the Union to find the strength to meet the needs of European citizens.

European leaders should help in building mechanisms for rapid decision-making in times of crisis. It took the Union 6 months to reach an agreement on the migration crisis. When the decision was finally made, there was already a new reality on the ground, which required a new decision. It turned out that bureaucratic European mechanisms are unable to clear the road of accumulated crises. Then, countries took things into their own hands. For the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, fences and wires were erected to protect against the threat of uncontrolled illegal migration.

But also, the Union should show responsibility towards its roots, the Balkans. It should find strength to continue the integration process of the countries of our region. Membership in the EU is a process that changes us. The indecision of the Union to overcome the blockades and the enlargement fatigue led to retrograde processes in South East Europe. Instead of Europeanizing the Balkans, the European Union became Balkanized. Now is time for the European Union to re-Europeanize itself and the Balkans.

Although we are not yet part of the European Union, we in Macedonia believe in the European Union. Led by the European idea, 25 years ago we started to build European Macedonia. In that endeavor we were faced with numerous challenges. But we were steadfast in achieving our strategic objectives. The Union has helped to transform our institutions. However, due to the indecisiveness of the European Union, it seems as if our house has remained unfinished. We felt on own skin the challenges of our dynamic world.

We need to re-experience the transforming power of the Union, to finish the roof of that house, of the European Republic of Macedonia in the European Balkans. Only those who best understand us can help in this endeavor. It is you, the people who, through Pan-Europe, dedicate your lives to achieving the vision of an open and united European continent.

Thank you.