Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, TimchoMucunski, in an interview with Politico’s Brussels Playbook, one of the most influential daily morning bulletins on European politics, said that the country deserves a fair, predictable and credible path to full membership in the European Union.
The Politico article points out that the country has been a candidate for membership since 2005 and is fully aligned with the Union’s foreign policy, but that, two decades later, it is still waiting for accession negotiations to begin in earnest.
“Yes, sometimes we are very frustrated by the lack of political results,”Mucunski noted, adding that the country has become a “case study” on how bilateral disputes can hinder the European Union’s enlargement process.
Referring to the progress of other candidate countries, Politico states that Montenegro is rapidly moving towards membership, Albania has closed the first three negotiation chapters, and Ukraine and Moldova are making progress in negotiations. In contrast, Macedonia has not closed a single chapter in more than 20 years.
“To say that we have been treated unfairly is an understatement,” FM Mucunski stressed.
The article recalls that the country changed its flag in 1995 and its name in 2019, after which its European path was blocked due to Bulgaria’s request to include Bulgarians in the Constitution.
“This is an absolute abuse of the position of a member state of the European Union,” Mucunski said.
He compared the situation to the relations between Ireland and the United Kingdom, assessing that their complex differences could probably not be overcome without joint membership in the European Union.
“Bulgaria, right after Macedonia, has the most to gain from our country’s progress towards full-fledged membership,” Mucunskipointed out.
The foreign minister stressed that he did not believe he would be doing anything useful for the country if he criticized the way the European Union makes decisions. At the same time, he said that the country has earned its place in the Union and that he expects a fair, predictable and credible path forward.
“Our country does not have the luxury of having an alternative B or an alternative C,” FM Mucunskiunderscored.
