site.btaNorth Macedonia’s Prime Minister: Country Will Not Withdraw from EU Negotiations Despite Legal Challenge

The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, stated on Friday that the country will not withdraw from EU accession talks. He was commenting on an initiative submitted to the Constitutional Court in Skopje challenging the legality of the protocol from the second meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission with Bulgaria, media in Skopje report.

“Absolutely, we will never withdraw from negotiations with the European Union. Absolutely. That is not the goal of this government. On the contrary, the goal of this government is to be part of the EU,” said Mickoski, urging patience for the Constitutional Court’s final decision on the initiative.

He was asked in Stip what the Court’s ruling would mean for the country and whether Skopje would pull out of the EU negotiation framework.

Earlier this week, the Constitutional Court announced that it had initiated proceedings following a challenge from former MP and ex-leader of the DOM party in North Macedonia, Liljana Popovska. The case questions the protocol’s constitutionality and legality.

The document was signed in Sofia on July 17, 2022, by the then foreign ministers Teodora Genchovska of Bulgaria and Bujar Osmani of North Macedonia.

The protocol from the Joint Intergovernmental Commission’s second meeting states that the government of North Macedonia agrees that the next Intergovernmental Conference with the EU to conclude the opening of accession negotiations for North Macedonia will take place once North Macedonia includes Bulgarians in its Constitution.

According to a decision by the Bulgarian National Assembly on June 24, 2022, the signing of the protocol was a precondition for Bulgaria’s approval of the EU negotiation framework for North Macedonia.

Also on Friday, North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski stated that whatever the country’s Constitutional Court decides regarding a proposal to nullify the protocol from the second meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission with Bulgaria, it will not alter the framework of Skopje’s membership negotiations with the EU. The procedure itself, he added, will not affect relations with Bulgaria, local media reported.