20.10.2022
To be EU or not to be – a question which has become controversial in the past couple of years for my country and the Western Balkans. The road to the European Union has been long, frustrating but very ambitious. Since North Macedonia’s application in 2004 to become an EU member I was over four years old. Since then I finished high school, went to university and now graduated, while North Macedonia still fights for starting the EU negotiations. North Macedonia has made a lot of progress in the last years, signing the Prespa agreement together with the French resolution to finally open a new topic – EU negotiations.
Whilst we are hoping that in the future we will be a full EU member, I can’t stop remembering how as a young person ever since I was born I always heard in the news about the European Union, EU Integration, stability in the Balkans, my country becoming an EU state along with the rest of the candidates. I can’t help but think about all the young people from 2004 and what they were thinking would happen back then, to today’s date when the next generation of youth are thinking now. In one way or the other, the Western Balkans are the closest we ever have been to joining the EU. But enough about what the “seniors” in the past have done and are doing, we are here to talk about youth and our future, so what do the youth think about this complicated question?
First of all, I have noticed that many people don’t realize what entering the EU is even like. It is not simply an ordinary membership; a country has to have solved the Copenhagen criteria to be fully integrated. Rule of law, a competitive and healthy national economy (free travel of services and workers) human rights, dignity and a reformed public administration – this is a big part of what the EU is asking from its candidates and members. A country has to be healthy and stand on its own if it wants to be an EU member. If we become an EU country tomorrow, we might have instant benefits but those alone WILL NOT help us reform as a country, but only North Macedonia can do that for themselves. The sentence applies to the whole Western Balkans.
Speaking as myself and as a youth activist, lately, the EU enlargement has been an in-and-out stance for young people. Whilst the majority supports EU integrations and enlargement, they recognize the potential and benefits of the EU, but on the other side, they also feel disbelief and apathy towards this topic, simply because of the long-waited application and with every veto the motivation drops. As a country that has changed its name (joined NATO in 2020) and now has negotiated with Bulgaria (French resolution), we have gone through a lot and sacrificed time to get where we want to be. We (young people) only wish for North Macedonia to be a place to live in, where there will be a rule of law, a great economy and jobs for us, a green country, all by all a real European country.
I truly believe and support the EU enlargement and for North Macedonia to join the European Union, and it should be based on our effort (as I mentioned the Copenhagen criteria). If we can’t reform ourselves, no one will/can. With changes from the inside, we will change on the outside. This is why young people support and will support the EU, and I believe youth will keep fighting for North Macedonia to become a place to have a decent life to live in!
Jovica Jankovikj has been an activist since turning 16 years old. Starting in the NGO sector, Jovica has participated in various high school essay competitions, receiving an award from the US Embassy on the topic "Outlining a personal vision for Macedonia’s future". He has been a columnist in Radio Free Europe Macedonia since 2018, writing over 20 opinion pieces on international relations, politics, economy, youth and other topics. As a recent law school graduate, he works as a Junior Associate in Law Office Davidovikj and Jankovikj and is also part of the executive board of the Social Democratic Youth of Macedonia, the youth wing of the political party Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, in which he has been active since 18 years old.