North Macedonia’s President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova said in Skopje today that “it is necessary that Macedonia’s European integration is based on the criteria that apply to other candidates.”
Her office said that Siljanovska Davkova made the remarks during a meeting with Slovenian Ambassador Gregor Presker on the process of North Macedonia’s accession to the European Union (EU).
The president reaffirmed her position that North Macedonia’s European integration process should proceed “on the basis of merit and with consistent implementation of the Copenhagen criteria.”
Skopje formally began the “first phase” of negotiations with the EU in July 2022, but in order to move to the “second phase” and start opening chapters, it must include in the Constitution that Bulgarians are a national minority, which is being blocked by North Macedonia Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski’s VMRO DPMNE party.
Mickoski has offered Brussels and Sofia a solution to overcome this obstacle by delaying the constitutional amendments, which would only come into effect once North Macedonia completes negotiations with the EU, but so far he has not found an understanding.
The statement from the meeting between the President of North Macedonia and the Slovenian Ambassador in Skopje states that they “expressed their readiness to further intensify bilateral cooperation and joint regional action for the sake of economic prosperity and facing global challenges”.
It was noted that Slovenia is one of the most important trading partners and investors in North Macedonia, but that the potential has not been fully exploited, so intensifying cooperation should be one of the main priorities of both countries, Hina writes.
