“Change the constitution” – Van der Bellen visits EU candidate North Macedonia

Pendarovski was confident that the constitutional amendment would be implemented in the coming months. Regarding concerns in the country that, after completing the required reform in the EU accession process, further conditions could be imposed by Bulgaria or other EU member states, he said: our rapprochement.” The credibility of the European Union is at stake.

“Dealing with minorities is often difficult”
Austria knows from its own experience that “dealing with national minorities is often politically sensitive and can cause tensions”, the Federal President said understandingly at the joint press conference with Penadarovski. The growing frustration about the difficult path from the country to the EU is understandable. “But don’t lose sight of the goal,” Van der Bellen warned. It is important “to look forward now – and not, as some do, back – to a common European future.”

The constitutional amendment to recognize the country’s Bulgarian minority is a precondition for North Macedonia’s progress in the EU accession process, forced by a blockade by Bulgaria. However, so far the government in Skopje, led by the Social Democrats (SDSM), has failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in parliament. The national-conservative opposition party VMRO-DPMNE rejects the change and demands early elections. Regular parliamentary elections are scheduled for next year.

“Binding the region to the EU even faster”
Given the geopolitical situation, it is “particularly important at the moment to tie the countries of the region even more closely to the EU,” said Van der Bellen, welcoming the fact that North Macedonia has joined the EU sanctions against Russia. The German president also praised the country’s “important role” in further expanding regional cooperation, such as in the negotiations to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

Van der Bellen praised bilateral relations between Austria and North Macedonia as “excellent”. Economic contacts are also “excellent”, said the Federal President, pointing out that Austria ranks first when it comes to foreign investment in North Macedonia. “But of course you can always expand that,” says Van der Bellen, who traveled with a business delegation from about 25 local companies.

New agreement in the field of justice
Van der Bellen was also accompanied on his visit by Minister of Justice Alma Zadić (Greens), who took the opportunity to sign a statement with her counterpart Krenar Lloga on more cooperation in the judicial field. She had already signed a similar agreement with Albania on Monday on cooperation in improving the rule of law.

After the meeting in Pendarovski, a meeting between the Federal President and Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski and a speech by Van der Bellens in parliament were also scheduled on Wednesday.

The rapprochement with the EU has been stagnant for decades
North Macedonia’s rapprochement with the EU has been stalled for almost two decades due to blockades by EU member states. The Balkan country has been a candidate for accession to the EU since 2005. However, Greece initially blocked a rapprochement for years because of a dispute over the name of the state. To settle this, the former Macedonia even changed its state name in 2019.

However, after the concerns of other EU countries such as France and the Netherlands were allayed, Bulgaria plunged into conflict due to, among other things, a conflict over the interpretation of history in the neighboring country. An agreement last year finally made it possible to officially start accession negotiations with the EU in July. A condition for opening specific accession chapters is now the recognition of the Bulgarian minority in the North Macedonian constitution.