Visiting Skopje for her final stop in the Western Balkans, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, appeared once again alongside the Macedonian Prime Minister, Hristijan Mickoski, to reaffirm Europe's support for the country's accession to the EU.
“Your presence here is a strong signal that the EU has not forgotten the region”, said the Prime Minister. “Our determination is clear: we belong to the EU. (...) We are investing, changing and making sacrifices in the hope that our efforts will be recognised”, he said.
North Macedonia has been an official candidate since 2005, but has still not opened its first cluster of chapters. This slowness in the process is causing tension in Skopje, which believes that the EU must ensure “fair treatment and consistency” in its enlargement process.
“We expect clear action from the EU. Member States have not all consistently acted in the European spirit”, Hristijan Mickoski denounced, referring to the opposition of Bulgaria, which does not consider Macedonian to be a language, but rather a dialect of Bulgarian, and which for a time blocked the accession of North Macedonia to the European Union.
“We want a dignified solution, and we have had enough of blockages linked to bilateral issues”, he asserted.
The issue of reforming the country’s constitution to consider Bulgarians as an ethnic minority also remains a sensitive point, closely linked to the progress of accession negotiations. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)