site.btaPresident Radev: EU Enlargement Must Be Based on True Implementation of Copenhagen Criteria

In order to be sustainable and irreversible, the process of European Union enlargement must be based on the true implementation of the Copenhagen criteria for membership, said President Rumen Radev during a meeting with EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, the President’s press secretariat reported on Thursday. The Commissioner is on a working visit to Bulgaria.

Even as the new geopolitical dynamics highlight the growing importance of EU enlargement, the principle of maintaining individual merits should remain central in evaluating candidate countries, the President emphasized.

During the discussion, the two officials addressed several topics regarding European integration and the related reforms. In this context, President Radev expressed hope that the Republic of North Macedonia will soon begin to implement the 2022 European consensus, thus opening the way for the country to start EU membership negotiations.

Earlier on Thursday, after a meeting with Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, Kos said that EU enlargement is one of the current European Commission’s top priorities.