site.btaNorth Macedonia's Foreign Minister Mucunski Comments on EC's Progress Report

Timco Mucunski, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of the Republic of North Macedonia, believes that the European Commission's report on the country's progress toward EU accession gives a positive assessment of North Macedonia's compliance with the Common Foreign and Security Policy. In an interview with TV Sitel, he responded to accusations by the opposition that the country has no foreign policy, stating that if the State had made the constitutional changes to include the Bulgarian minority, the report would have been different in terms of the wording used, because the technical element being assessed also has a political aspect. According to him, the report also gives high marks in the areas of education, scientific research, digitization, and the work of the Customs Administration.

Mucunski admitted to problems that the Government has not solved in the fight against corruption and the judicial system reform, where certain aspects related to what the Cabinet needs to address have been identified, while others are related to the work of the Judiciary and the prosecution service. He agreed that more needs to be done, adding that the Government is committed to adopting all laws related to key reforms in the Judiciary and the fight against corruption by the end of this calendar year.

According to Mucunski, delays and closures of certain corruption cases due to the statute of limitations are not a criticism of the Government, but of the judicial system. The Minister maintains the belief that the majority of judges and prosecutors in the country are honest professionals who do their job well, but there are exceptions who hold North Macedonia's judicial system hostage and protect certain political elites.

Mucunski described as unrealistic and biased SDSM Chair Venko Filipce's words that the European Commission's report on North Macedonia's progress is the worst in 10 years. The Minister said that the SDSM should apologize for the mistakes made in accepting the so-called “French proposal”, which have led the country to this complex situation.

On Thursday, Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski said that he is satisfied with what is written in the European Commission's report.