Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said Saturday that June gives the best chance to start accession negotiations with the EU, adding that there are two weeks left to overcome differences.
He noted that serious commitment is seen from the Portuguese Presidency, which addresses the sensitivities of the three parties – North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and the member states which expect that the negotiation process won’t be contaminated with bilateral issues and it can be a good basis for overcoming differences.
During a visit to Tetovo on Saturday, Osmani pointed out that they continue to restore trust with Bulgaria.
“We continue to restore trust, there is a constructive relation, constructive rhetoric between us and the Bulgarian Government. These contacts that took place are important in restoring that trust and I expect this communication to intensify in the coming period,” Osmani said.
The Foreign Minister believes the alarm has been raised that the region is reaching a critical point of losing credibility in the enlargement process.
“Obviously, the time to act is now. I don’t want to raise the expectations of the citizens, as the past has shown that although we had a perfect record to start negotiations and became a test of the credibility of the process, this also depends on many internal dynamics within the member states, but we need to be persistent. We have an obligation from the citizens that we will bring the country into the EU,” Osmani said.
