Meeting with Macron/ Mickoski expresses optimism about European integration

2024-11-08 21:44:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, did not hold a meeting with the Bulgarian President, Rumen Radev, during the summit of the European Political Community in Hungary on November 7. However, on Friday he returned optimistic from Budapest about the European integration of the country, especially after the bilateral meeting with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

"The meeting that Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski had yesterday [Thursday, November 7] in Budapest with the French president is very important, given that Emmanuel Macron is undoubtedly the leader of Europe at the moment," said the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport on Friday. Aleksandar Nikoloski.

Nikoloski pointed out that the political situation in Germany makes "Macron the undisputed leader of Europe in this period".

“He [Emmanuel Macron] is the politician who has the highest support and the most stable mandate within the European Union of all the major member states. The fact that in a one-day conference [Macron] finds time to meet with the Prime Minister of [North] Macedonia, I think it speaks a lot about the personal authority that Prime Minister Mickoski has and the reputation that [North] Macedonia enjoys," Nikoloski added. .

Prime Minister Mickoski informed about the meeting with Macron on Thursday, underlining that they discussed the unblocking of North Macedonia's path to the EU. And on Friday, during the day, through a video message, Mickoski announced that he has held other bilateral meetings in Budapest, without mentioning names.

"We will continue to fight for [North] Macedonia in the weeks, months and years to come. We must succeed. We should be where we deserve and this is a European success story, and our country is within the European Union. I am even more optimistic that we should be and we will be", said Mickoski.

Initially, at the summit of the European Political Community in Hungary, it was expected that the host, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, would invite Mickoski and Radev to a joint table to find solutions for unblocking the European integration process, but Deputy Prime Minister Nikoloski stated that there is no information about such a meeting.

Meanwhile, in his speech at the summit of the European Political Community, the Bulgarian president, Rumen Radev, emphasized that the EU should pay more attention to the enlargement process. He underlined that this process will guarantee the security of the Western Balkans, adding that each candidate country must "build good relations with its neighbors and fulfill international obligations and decisions of the bloc."

While the authorities in North Macedonia are optimistic about unlocking the European Union membership process, the candidate for EU Enlargement Commissioner, Marta Kos, thinks differently. On Thursday, during the hearing to confirm her candidacy, she answered the questions of the Bulgarian MEPs regarding the constitutional changes - with prolonged implementation - saying that Skopje should change the Constitution, as promised.

"Nothing more and nothing less", emphasized Kos.

Even the European Commission, in this year's report, referred to the adoption of constitutional changes as a key element for North Macedonia's progress on the road to the European Union.

"Despite all the efforts, so far no progress has been made in the adoption of constitutional amendments to include in the Constitution citizens who live within the borders of the state and are part of other nations, such as the Bulgarians, as stated in the conclusions of the Council of Europe from July 18, 2022, which the country has pledged to implement," the report states.

For the Government of North Macedonia, the main condition for the continuation of negotiations with the EU is the amendment of the Constitution for the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in it. Until now, this process has been bypassed. The government in Skopje has proposed that even if they do, they will have prolonged implementation, an idea that has been excluded from the European Union.

The head of the EU Delegation in Skopje, Mikalis Rokas, during the presentation of this report in Skopje, last week, said that the political forces in North Macedonia must unite to implement these changes./REL