Siljanovska-Davkova: Macedonia has faced an unprecedented burden on its path to the EU, changing its flag, constitutional name and Constitution

Speaking at the 22nd European Summit in Salzburg, during a panel titled “Is Europe (still) a global player?”, North Macedonia’s President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova said that no other European country pursuing the path to integration had faced a burden comparable to Macedonia’s.

“In our European integration process, we have faced a burden no other European country has borne: we changed our state flag and constitutional name and adopted 36 constitutional amendments, most of them imposed from outside,” Siljanovska-Davkova said.

The president stressed that her remarks addressed the future of the European project, the strategic challenges facing the European Union, and the need to accelerate the integration of the Western Balkans—a process over which the EU has full control and decision-making authority.

Assessing the country’s progress toward EU membership, she said that of its 35 years of independence, Macedonia had spent 21 as a candidate for membership. According to her, the country has received 17 positive reports recommending the opening of negotiations, achieved a high level of alignment with European legislation, and reached 100 percent compliance with the common foreign and security policy. She also ranked the country among the most successful in European reforms and in implementing the Western Balkans Growth Plan.

Siljanovska-Davkova also questioned European principles, referring to the obligation for a state to change its domestic legal framework to resolve a historical dispute. “This raises serious questions about the consistency of European principles. Article 4(2) of the EU Treaty obliges the Union to respect the equality of Member States and their national identities, as expressed in their fundamental political and constitutional structures. Yet, in our case, a constitutional change conditioned on a bilateral historical dispute is presented as a test of our democratic capacity,” she said.