The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, called on EU member states on Tuesday 11 May to fulfil their commitments and open EU accession negotiations with his country (see other news). These are currently blocked due to a bilateral dispute with Bulgaria.
“We are not asking more than what we deserve: to hold our first Intergovernmental Conference as soon as possible. It has been acknowledged and confirmed that since March 2020 we have fulfilled our obligations. It is time for the EU to deliver”, he said at a press briefing with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, in Brussels. The day before, he had met the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
“We don’t want to stand and wait anymore. We want to move forward, because moving forward is the EU way”, the Prime Minister said, adding that a positive signal from the EU would be an encouragement for the whole Western Balkans region.
Mr Zaev received the support of the High Representative, who noted the strong support at the Foreign Affairs Council the previous day for holding the first Intergovernmental Conference as soon as possible. “North Macedonia can count on us to support it when it comes to finding a solution to advance on the accession path (to the EU)”, he promised.
Borrell also noted that there was no support for decoupling the discussion process between North Macedonia and Albania, either within the European institutions or among the Member States. “North Macedonia met the necessary conditions to start negotiations and similarly to Albania deserves to proceed to the next step”, he added.
The High Representative also welcomed Skopje’s alignment with EU foreign policy as an expression of the country’s commitment to its European path. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)