SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said it was reaffirming its clear position regarding enlargement.
“The enlargement process must be predictable and founded on objective, measurable criteria, defined in the Copenhagen criteria. Negotiations should be held on the basis of merits. Minister Timco Mucunski has on multiple occasions said that the country has made significant and difficult compromises in the last three decades, including constitutional changes, a change of the country’s name, and other essential reforms, aiming at getting closer to the EU.
However, despite these efforts, the accession process remains blocked due to bilateral disputes, which undermines the EU’s credibility and encourages destructive narratives in the region. On this occasion, we highlight the necessity for the EU to provide institutional guarantees that bilateral issues will not be instrumentalized to block the accession process. Only that way can a transparent and predictable process of integration that will preserve the trust of citizens in the EU and European perspective of our country can be ensured”, the institution added.
The same day, Socialist Party of Macedonia (SPM) criticised comments by Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos regarding Skopje’s EU path, describing it as an announcement that there would be further Bulgarian blockades and blackmails that could be expected in the future.
“Negotiations under conditions of blackmails and with announcements about future blockades without any guarantees according to the Copenhagen criteria are unacceptable”, Ljupco Dimovski’s party said.
