Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg traveled to North Macedonia with his colleagues from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The country is not making any progress towards the EU.
North Macedonia has officially been a candidate for EU membership for 17 years. Since then there has been a headwind. First the resistance of Greece had to be overcome by changing the name of the state, then there were reservations from France and the Netherlands and finally a veto from Bulgaria, which considers the Bulgarian minority in North Macedonia to be discriminated against. A constitutional amendment was agreed for the latter a year ago.
Difficult relationship with Bulgaria
Execution is not in sight. To urge the North Macedonians to hurry, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and his Czech and Slovak colleagues traveled to Skopje yesterday on an official EU mission. Because North Macedonia has done almost all of Brussels’ homework and is considered a model student in the Balkans. “North Macedonia is ambitious, but without a constitutional amendment all ambitions come to nothing,” says Schallenberg.
The mission is complicated by the complicated relationship with Bulgaria. Sofia wants to make her veto on North Macedonia’s rapprochement with the EU conditional on the recognition of the Bulgarian minority in the country. In Skopje, however, the constitutional amendment has not yet found a majority. According to Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, it should be presented to parliament within days. Conversely, as long as Bulgaria refuses to recognize the Macedonian minority in its own country, parliamentary approval is unlikely. Bulgaria has blocked the start of official EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia since 2020. Sofia calls on Skopje to recognize Bulgarian roots in Macedonian language, people and history.
Osmani remains skeptical: “It doesn’t matter what the final version of an agreement will be. Bulgaria can continue to find millions of reasons to block the talks.”
Schallenberg argues for an end to the gimmicks
In Skopje, Brussels wants assurance that the constitutional amendments are the last Bulgarian concerns. Schallenberg warned both North Macedonia and Bulgaria to end the shenanigans. There won’t be another deal. North Macedonia threatens to end up on the emergency lane with an engine failure on its way to the EU.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
