On Monday 20 May, the Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, once again stressed the need to open accession negotiations with North Macedonia. This is a way of putting pressure on some Member States that are still hesitant.
The Commission is due to present progress reports from candidate and potential candidate countries on 29 May. A report that should be positive for Skopje. “My services are currently closely monitoring the reforms, in particular in key areas set out by the Council such as the judiciary, the fight against corruption and organised crime, intelligence services and public administration. In our upcoming enlargement package, we will report on tangible results in these areas”, he explained in a speech to the Vienna Economic Talks.
Beyond the reforms, the country has implemented the Prespa agreement on the name change, which was another request from Member States to open enlargement negotiations.
Despite progress, the opening of negotiations may not be granted at the end of June, which, according to Mr Hahn, would have a negative impact on the EU itself. “Within the EU, we must keep our commitments and open negotiations in order to continue to ensure the Union's credibility as a key player in the region”, he stressed. According to him, “If we fail to reward the historic Prespa agreement and the great reform effort of North Macedonia we will make great damage to the power of attraction the EU has over its neighbours and the Western Balkan in particular”. He then warned: “The incentive of EU membership will lose its leverage and this will be a big blow to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and in the efforts of the EU to export stability to the region. Instead we will be creating a big vacuum that other players are very keen to explore". The EU is concerned about the potential role of Russia, Turkey or China in the region.
Recalling that political stability goes hand in hand with economic development, the Commissioner also called for investment in the country. “North Macedonia is gaining new momentum, creating opportunities that must be seized with both hands to further strengthen economic growth”, he said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)