site.btaNorth Macedonia’s Opposition Sees Possible EU Negotiating Breakthrough in PM Mickoski’s Brussels Visit

North Macedonia’s leading opposition party, the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), has suggested that Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski’s private visit to Brussels could signal a possible development regarding the country’s EU negotiating framework, specifically the so-called “French proposal” to include Bulgarians in North Macedonia’s Constitution, the Deneshen.mk news website reported.

In a statement released by SDSM’s press office, the party questioned whether Mickoski had finally realized that the “French proposal” was a good one. It recalled that North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski had already told him that the bilateral protocols with Bulgaria were not part of the negotiating framework.

SDSM said Mickoski’s visit came at a time when the government was unable to demonstrate results in other areas and that the only way for it to show progress was by opening EU accession negotiations, the Libertas website reported. According to the opposition party, this would mean accepting the “French proposal”.

The opposition said the key question now was how Mickoski would explain this to his voters, concluding that the government should not repeat what it had done in the past by learning one thing in Brussels and continuing to “sell” something entirely different at home, following the “recipe” of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

In response, Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski told Sitel TV, as quoted by the MIA news agency, that “there is nothing secret” about the matter and that North Macedonia’s government has a “clear and firm position that it will not accept constitutional changes under Bulgarian diktat”.

Asked what was different in the negotiations with Bulgaria compared with 2025, Nikoloski said he did not see anything different.