site.btaForeign Minister Mucunski Says North Macedonia’s EU Path Remains Blocked

North Macedonia’s EU accession path remains blocked despite two years of talks, Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski said on Friday. Talks continued throughout the period with EU member states, EU institutions and Bulgaria, but no solution was ready to be put before the public in North Macedonia, Mucunski told a news conference.

“There is momentum for EU enlargement, and talks are under way because unblocking North Macedonia’s path is strategically important for the entire region. It is natural for these discussions to take place, and they will continue, but we have no intention of making concessions on the national interest, history or identity,” Mucunski said. He said he shared North Macedonia President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova’s view that the country’s negotiating framework did not explicitly state when the constitutional amendments should take effect or when accession talks with the EU should formally begin. The legal interpretation of the framework was important, he added, saying he did not believe the protocols with Bulgaria were part of it.

One government proposal for opening EU accession talks was for the constitutional amendments to take effect only after the country joined the Union. The second protocol, signed with Bulgaria in 2022, stipulates that the next Intergovernmental Conference, which would complete the opening phase of accession negotiations, be held immediately after the Republic of North Macedonia amends its Constitution to include citizens who form part of other peoples, including the Bulgarian people.

Asked by a reporter, Mucunski said North Macedonia’s institutions were monitoring all developments related to the execution of European Court of Human Rights judgments involving Bulgaria.

“We are very active in several cases concerning OMO Ilinden-Pirin and other non-governmental organizations in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, because of a long-standing mistake made 15, 20 or even more years ago, we are not a party to those proceedings, although we could have been. That was the wrong decision at the time. As a member state of the Council of Europe, however, we have the right to present our views, and we do so actively in the Committee of Ministers, where we insist on the consistent application and full execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights because we see this as a major civilizational achievement in Europe today,” Mucunski said.