site.btaEuropean Council President in Skopje: EU Integration Process Has Taken Too Long, Now Is Time to Deliver

The process of European integration has been going on for a very long time, and now is the time to deliver, European Council President Antonio Costa said as he met with the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, in Skopje, the MIA news agency reported. According to Costa, the Balkan country has already done a great deal and should therefore continue on this path.

This week, the President of the European Council is touring the Western Balkan countries, having already visited Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Kosovo. The aim of his regional tour is to reaffirm the EU’s commitment to the region and to the membership prospects of the Western Balkan states in the European Union.

“North Macedonia has done a lot of work. You need to stay the course. The accession process is more a marathon, than a sprint. It is demanding. It can be frustrating at times - like it has been for all previous candidates. But all of them achieved the objective, and certainly, you will too,” said the President of the European Council.

Costa stressed that EU enlargement is "the best geostrategic investment in peace, security, and stability that we all can make".

Asked by a journalist whether the EU could offer any guarantees for accession or mechanisms through which such guarantees could be provided - and more broadly, how and where he sees a way forward for the country - Costa reiterated that North Macedonia can rely on Brussels’ support for unblocking the process and that now is the time to achieve results.

“To achieve results, we need to walk at the same time in two dimensions. One is with concrete results for North Macedonia and for the citizens of North Macedonia. That is why the reform agenda is so important, the growth plan is so important, and to concretize investments such as Corridor 8, the modernization of Corridor 10, can give concrete results to your country and your citizens. At the same time, we need to overcome [the delay in] the process of accession, and for that, it is necessary to make some reforms but also to deliver on what was agreed in 2022,” Costa emphasized.

North Macedonia's Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski responded that he hopes the process of European integration will be unblocked in the coming period “with dignity, because dignity is one of the essential European values,” MIA reported.

“Mr. Costa says the path to full EU membership is frustrating, difficult, and full of challenges but we as a people can say that maybe we are walking the hardest path for years. It's a fact that other nations, now part of the European family, also walked this path. But the citizens of this country - one of the smallest in the very heart of the Balkans and Europe - have walked and continue to walk the hardest path, if we can even say we’re walking it at all, because in reality, we are still where we were 20 years ago,” Mickoski said after his meeting with Costa.

Mickoski emphasized that North Macedonia’s commitment to the European integration process will remain strong and will be further strengthened in the coming period, because “we believe that the future of Macedonian citizens is within the European family,” stressing that the EU integration process is based on values - not on bilateral issues.

“I am convinced that we have values, capacity and knowledge, and we know how to take this path in the fastest way possible - with the help that President Costa is personally providing, and with the support and cooperation we are receiving from the European Commission and member states. I am confident that we will carry out quality reforms that will ensure a European future for our country and our citizens,” Mickoski stressed.

In response to a journalist's question about whether there will be talks with the Bulgarian side, Mickoski stated that he is ready to discuss resolving the issue at any time.

“As for talks with our eastern neighbor, let me remind you that our President has already held several meetings at the presidential level with hes counterpart from Bulgaria. So this is not just about meetings at the ministerial level. I am ready at any time to come to Brussels in his [Bulgarian Prime Minister's] presence, in the presence of Von der Leyen, and sit down to talk - as long and as often as needed - to reach a joint solution acceptable to both sides,” said Mickoski.

The Prime Minister recalled that his government has already communicated to Costa its "well-known position". "We cannot change our Constitution without seeing clear implementation of commitments from the other side," he said as quoted by MIA.