prime minister dimitar kovacevski, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for coming to north macedonia, to skopje, and to the government. it is a great pleasure to be in skopje. but mr prime minister, it strikes me you have a problem. you in north macedonia definitely want to be in the european union. it is still not clear whether the european union truly wants you. do you find that very frustrating? well, i can answer this question very straightforward that the european union needs north macedonia and it needs all the western balkans to be part of the european union. if you have asked me this question a year ago, then my answer would have maybe been more neutral. but now, after the new geostrategic situation which we have in europe, and after the invasion of russia on ukraine, and after all the security, energy and economic issues which are at stake in europe, it is clear and it has been confirmed by all the leaders of the european union, starting from president macron, c
they said those arrested included employees of a private company involved in the maintenance and management of the bridge. now on bbc news, it s stephen sackur in north macedonia with hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur and today i m in skopje, north macedonia, a land subject to countless wars and conquests going back to the time of alexander the great. this young nation was, of course, a part of the former yugoslavia. now it s desperate to get into the european union, but progress is painfully slow. my guest today is prime minister dimitar kovacevski. now he knows that europe s attention right now is fully focused on the war in ukraine. but how real is the potential for new instability here in the balkans? prime minister dimitar kovacevski, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for coming to north macedonia, to skopje, and to the government. it is a great pleasure to be in skopje. but mr prime minister, it strikes me you have a problem. you in north macedoni
the headlines will follow at the top of the hour after this feature programme. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur and today i m in skopje, north macedonia, a land subject to countless wars and conquests going back to the time of alexander the great. this young nation was, of course, a part of the former yugoslavia. now it s desperate to get into the european union, but progress is painfully slow. my guest today is prime minister dimitar kovacevski. now he knows that europe s attention right now is fully focused on the war in ukraine. but how real is the potential for new instability here in the balkans? prime minister dimitar kovacevski, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for coming to north macedonia, to skopje, and to the government. it is a great pleasure to be in skopje. but mr prime minister, it strikes me you have a problem. you in north macedonia definitely want to be in the european union. it is still not clear whether the european union truly wants you. do
were crushed to death on saturday in seoul. the president, yoon suk yeol, has vowed a full investigation into one of the country s worst ever disasters. now on bbc news hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur and today i m in skopje, north macedonia, a land subject to countless wars and conquests going back to the time of alexander the great. this young nation was, of course, a part of the former yugoslavia. now it s desperate to get into the european union, but progress is painfully slow. my guest today is prime minister dimitar kovacevski. now he knows that europe s attention right now is fully focused on the war in ukraine. but how real is the potential for new instability here in the balkans? prime minister dimitar kovacevski, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for coming to north macedonia, to skopje, and to the government. it is a great pleasure to be in skopje. but mr prime minister, it strikes me you have a problem. you in north macedonia definitely
prime minister dimitar kovacevski, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for coming to north macedonia, to skopje, and to the government. it is a great pleasure to be in skopje. but mr prime minister, it strikes me you have a problem. you in north macedonia definitely want to be in the european union. it is still not clear whether the european union truly wants you. do you find that very frustrating? well, i can answer this question very straightforward that the european union needs north macedonia and it needs all the western balkans to be part of the european union. if you have asked me this question a year ago, then my answer would have maybe been more neutral.