SKOPJE – President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen visited North Macedonia today as the final stop on her Western Balkans tour. The focus of talks in Skopje was on the EU accession process of the country.
“North Macedonia belongs with us in the EU. There is one key step you need to take to move forward. The enlargement momentum is real and North Macedonia should seize it”, Ursula von der Leyen noted at a joint press conference with Hristijan Mickoski, Prime Minister of North Macedonia.
According to her, “North Macedonia has made the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans a real success”.
“More EU investments are coming very soon. We are getting closer, also on AI… This is gradual integration at its best”, President of the EC remarked.
She stressed that once the EU integration is unblocked, North Macedonia will get the “roadmap”, it was reported by TV Telma.
“What has been done so far is impressive, and now are we are focused on unblocking the process, so that we can come up with a roadmap for North Macedonia”, Ursula von der Leyen remarked.
As a first step towards unblocking the accession process she stated that the officials of North Macedonia should send an invitation to meet with the authorities in Bulgaria.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski noted that he would “immediately” ask Foreign Minister Timčo Mucunski to send a diplomatic note regarding a meeting in Sofia.
For a reminder, EU accession process of North Macedonia is blocked primarily by a dispute with Bulgaria over history, language, and minority rights, which requires North Macedonia to change its constitution. Bulgaria demands that North Macedonia officially recognize its Bulgarian minority in its constitution, alter history textbooks, and address disputes regarding the origins of the Macedonian language and identity.
