Reactions after the separation of Albania and North Macedonia in the process of European integration

2024-09-27 20:44:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Reactions after the separation of Albania and North Macedonia in the process of

The separation of North Macedonia from Albania in the process of integration towards the European Union has provoked many reactions in Skopje. The opposition accuses the government of policies it says have caused stagnation and a lack of will to lead the country towards the European family.

The Social Democratic League says that VMRO-DPMNE and Prime Minister Hristijan Mickovski are directly to blame for this. She calls this a serious diplomatic failure of Mr. Mickovski.

"Today, instead of being a day of joy, hope and new opportunities for Macedonian citizens, we are talking about destabilization, isolation and ethnic issues", says SDSM, adding that "through the promotion of nationalization and lies, they are directly deciding unilaterally for the termination of talks with the EU".

"Mickovski and VMRO-DPMNE are directly responsible for the fact that Macedonia no longer has a European perspective", says a communique of the Social Democrats.

Even the Democratic Union for Integration reacted on Friday through a press release accusing the government in Skopje of the wrong policies that "are robbing us of the European future".

"Due to the failure of this government to fulfill the constitutional reforms, North Macedonia is today separated from Albania in its journey towards the European Union. This decision is a direct consequence of a political failure, but above all it is a grave injustice for every citizen of North Macedonia who has seen Europe not only as a political goal, but as a deep social and cultural aspiration" , says the reaction of the largest Albanian opposition party.

DUI accused the government that any delay in constitutional reforms is "one step further from the European family and one step closer to isolation, division and stagnation in the country".

Prime Minister Mickovski said during a press conference with the Hungarian Prime Minister that he sees only two parties that are happy with yesterday's decision of Brussels: "Sofia, one and the opposition in Skopje, two", he said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, who was on a two-day visit to Ohrid, said that it was not right to separate North Macedonia from Albania on the European road. He emphasized strong support for Skopje towards EU integration, as he announced an initiative to mediate in this country's dispute with neighboring Bulgaria. Mr. Orban is seen as a supporter of VMRO-DPMNE's policies. His country housed former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, convicted in Skopje for several criminal offenses related to corruption and abuse of office.

Mr. Orban rejected the doubts of the Macedonian opposition about a loan of 500 million euros that his country will give to North Macedonia on favorable terms, which the Social Democratic League says is Chinese money. "We cannot give foreign money", said the Hungarian Prime Minister, whose country is the current EU leader.

Analysts estimate that this was a good chance for the start of Skopje's talks with the EU. Xelal Neziri says for the Voice of America that North Macedonia has missed the chance to integrate into the EU with the first group of countries which are Montenegro, Albania and Serbia. He says that the next wave of expansion without North Macedonia will increase frustrations, especially among ethnic Albanians, who, according to him, feel victims of the disputes that the country has with its neighbors.

"This division will also affect the implementation of reforms in North Macedonia. The government will not have the will to implement them and will slow down economic development. It is a moment that will produce consequences in all aspects", says the analyst, while he sees the separation of Albania from North Macedonia as marking a turning point in the integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union. "North Macedonia remains in the problematic group together with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. The first group is expected to become part of the EU in 2030, while the second group has a European perspective that is difficult to predict", Mr. Neziri assesses.

Nenad Markovic says that ignoring the disagreements, in this case with Sofia, leads nowhere, but only deepens the conflict.

"If the problem is ignored, it will surely spread further, it will grow even more, as was the case with Greece where it was seen that time is not in our favor", he says.

Mr. Markovic adds that the beginning of the talks on the part of Albania should not be seen with a negative eye.

"We must wish the neighbors a good journey and pull us along with them", he says, while emphasizing that the political elites in the country do not want to give money to Sofia, "but the way is defined in that way in the framework of talks and this will not change", says Nenad Markovic, university professor.

The EU had put Skopje and Tirana in a group to move together towards integration, giving Skopje a deadline to approve constitutional changes to include the Bulgarian minority, which were a condition for further talks with the bloc. But the new government of North Macedonia is not ready to fulfill this main condition.

North Macedonia is among the first countries of the Western Balkans that received the status of "candidate country for membership" in the EU, since December 2005, but the policies of the governments in Skopje have been criticized as wrong, the internal problems and the vetoes of the countries Neighboring members in the Block have made the road to Brussels arduous and protracted./ Voa