The Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, briefed the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) on Wednesday 26 April on the negotiations that will eventually lead to the opening of chapters for the country’s accession to the EU.
Just over a year after his last visit to the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12916/13), Osmani began by recalling that Skopje had “not hesitated” to align its policy with the EU’s position towards Russia, particularly in terms of sanctions, in the context of Moscow’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
“We have been involved in the measures since 2014 and, in doing so, we have reaffirmed our commitment to sharing the European principles and vision”, insisted the Macedonian Foreign Minister.
Furthermore, Mr Osmani assured that the Macedonian government would tackle the revision of its Constitution in order to open the first negotiation chapter, relating to fundamental rights. This amendment - on which lifting the Bulgarian veto for the opening of accession negotiations with North Macedonia had depended (see EUROPE 12979/7) - provides for the inclusion of Bulgarians in the ethnic groups recognised by Skopje and the implementation of the ‘friendship treaty’ aimed at eradicating hate speech.
Emphasis should also be placed on the various reforms leading to the screening of the European acquis, in particular through the implementation of the conclusions of the European Council of 23-24 June 2022 (see EUROPE 12978/1).
Furthermore, Mr Osmani said that he was counting on Parliament to have a “strong impact” when the first cluster of accession negotiation chapters is opened in order to “move forward on concrete things, such as roadmaps, with public administration reforms, the issue of the Rule of law, and the democratic functioning of institutions”. On the last two points, “a consensus with the national political parties” exists, he said.
For the MEPs of Parliament’s AFET Committee, the country’s efforts in the fight against corruption, for democracy and the Rule of law were widely praised. However, some of them expressed concern about the potential lack of support in Macedonian society for the major issues related to EU membership as well as for nationalist pressures in the region.
“There has been progress, but some old habits die hard, especially in the Balkans”, commented Stelios Kouloglou (The Left, Greek). He added: “There is growing discontent in North Macedonia. We also need to know how to fight against”.
“North Macedonia would like to be fully prepared to assume the obligations of membership by the end of 2030. There is a lot of work, but we can do it”, concluded Mr Osmani. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)