Jotova: North Macedonia must follow the European path; it has not fulfilled its obligations since 2022

The issue of North Macedonia’s stagnation in the European Union integration process has returned to public debate in Bulgaria. Bulgaria’s acting president, Ilijana Jotova, raised the issue during a conversation with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

According to reports by Bulgarian media, the meeting also discussed EU enlargement. Jotova and Fico stressed that the path to membership should be based on clear rules and on the results achieved by each candidate country.

“You know that we have some problems with the Republic of North Macedonia and its EU membership. We are seeking your support for North Macedonia to follow the European membership policy. For four years, we have seen no progress in implementing the obligations undertaken by North Macedonia in 2022,” Jotova said during the meeting, the BTA news agency reported.

North Macedonia obtained candidate country status in 2005, while the membership process has been hindered several times. Initially, the obstacle was linked to the dispute with Greece, while later the process was blocked by Bulgaria’s veto. Following the approval of the so-called French proposal in 2022, the screening process began, but the opening of the first cluster remains conditional on constitutional amendments, Zhurnal.mk reports.