MEPs approved (461 votes in favour, 121 against and 107 abstentions) the report by Thomas Waitz (Greens/EFA, Austria) on North Macedonia's progress towards EU membership at the plenary session on Wednesday 9 July.
A candidate for membership for almost 20 years, Skopje has still not opened its first cluster of chapters. The slowness of the reforms and a veto by Bulgaria, linked to the treatment of the Bulgarian minority in Macedonia (see EUROPE 13647/14), are at the root of this delay.
The report emphasises this point, stressing that the rest of the negotiation process can be implemented immediately once Macedonia has carried out the constitutional reforms demanded by the European Union.
“North Macedonia has been a pioneer in the region, showing a real commitment to EU values. (...) But its accession has been unfairly blocked for too long because of bilateral disputes, fuelling public frustration and disillusionment with the EU” said the Parliament’s rapporteur for the text.
The country is also affected by campaigns of disinformation and foreign interference, which further slow down the accession process.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/hsa (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)