French Ambassador Christophe Le Rigoleur reiterated that North Macedonia’s EU accession process must follow the 2022 negotiating framework, which requires constitutional amendments. In an interview with Radio Free Europe, he stressed that the framework was adopted by all member states and will not be changed.
“The enlargement process must proceed within these parameters, and it passes through the adoption of constitutional amendments”, he said.
Le Rigoleur added that dialogue with Bulgaria should not reopen compromises already agreed, urging Skopje to seize the current momentum as the EU shows readiness for enlargement.
PM Hristijan Mickoski responded to Le Rigoleur’s statements, emphasizing that constitutional changes depend solely on VMRO-DPMNE, rejecting any notion that external pressure could force decisions.
“If they think the constitution must change while everything else is ignored, then there is no good partner here. This depends exclusively on the largest political party and its leadership. We are ready to wait until conditions are fair, like it was the case with other similar issues in the region, in which some policies took decades to be resolved”, Mickoski said.