Geer: There’ll Be No Further Changes to Negotiation Framework

EU Ambassador David Geer stated in an interview for MIA that the EU has no intention to make changes to the negotiation framework for North Macedonia.

“North Macedonia officially started the accession negotiations in July 2022 and now it must make the next step, which are the constitutional changes. The decision of the country to continue with the EU integration is its sovereign decision, and it cannot be decided by the EU. I carefully followed the debates between the autumn of 2020 and July 2022, and it is a fact that a compromise was reached and that neither North Macedonia nor Bulgaria was fully satisfied with it, but that’s how compromises work. This is a done deal, and I do not think that the EU has any intention whatsoever to change this negotiation framework,” Geer said.

Asked to comment on the claims of VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski that once the party comes to power it will seek for an alternative to the framework, Geer said that things are very clear and that if Mickoski’s party is really pro-EU, it is also very clear what they need to do so the country continues the membership talks with the EU.

In return, Mickoski proposed that the EU Ambassadors in Skopje and in Sofia need to join their efforts in the attempt to convince official Sofia to relax its positions towards North Macedonia and its integration in the EU.