Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski took the opportunity of his first visit to Brussels on Wednesday 12 June, which is also his first trip abroad since he was elected, to call on Member States to open negotiations for his country's accession to the EU (see EUROPE 12249/24).
Recalling that in 2016, during the migration crisis, his country, at the forefront, had shown that it was a “strong partner of the EU”, he said that “this time, the EU has the right and opportunity to show the same leadership towards Macedonia by giving it a date for the opening of negotiations”.
At a press briefing with European Council President Donald Tusk, Mr Pendarovski recalled that his country had signed agreements with Bulgaria and Greece and carried out substantial reforms.
“Over the last 2 years, your country has delivered all the right political signals that the EU was expecting from the candidates”, confirmed Mr Tusk, adding that Skopje has done everything that was expected of it.
Even if, as President of the European Council, he did not want to “prejudge the EU's decisions”, he considered “personally” that “there (could) only be one decision: to launch negotiations”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)