North Macedonia seeks EU guarantees for predictable accession path

The main message we received from Brussels is that the geopolitical context requires the EU to interpret the enlargement process as a process of unification of Europe, which, in addition to economic, also has security significance for the Union, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski told Sitel TV on Wednesday.

Commenting on the latest EC Progress Report and the country’s European integration, Mucunski said he was convinced that if the country had made the constitutional amendments, the report would have been different in the way certain phrases are placed in its content, because the technical element that was being assessed also has a political aspect, CE Report quotes MIA.

"However, as a Government, we openly convey to Brussels what we say before the citizens and what we feel is the position of our people. This is how our positions have been built. It is not only a question of constitutional amendments, the question is what guarantees the country will get for the predictability of its path forward," said Mucunski.

He noted that foreign policy and regional cooperation got the highest score in the report.

"For a year and a half, the opposition and people close to it have been spreading hysteria that the country's foreign policy has no concept, that it does not know where it is heading, that it acts without an idea, only to be proven wrong now, through this report, because foreign policy and regional cooperation - what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade is in charge of – got the highest score in the report. We also received praise for our alignment with the common foreign and security policy and for other aspects such as the historic partnership in defence and security and a number of other elements, where it is clear that our foreign policy - amid a complex geopolitical period when transatlantic relations are not what they used to be - manages to be positioned at the highest level through the prism of what the EU values, and yet maintains our strategic partnership with the United States," Mucunski pointed out.

According to him, there are segments with high scores in the report. In addition to foreign policy, the document has positively assessed education, research, digitalization, and the work of the Customs Administration. He added that the country has not regressed in any area, except for the fundamental issues noted in the fight against corruption and the reform of the judiciary.

"It is a fact that we have fundamental issues in the fight against corruption and the reform of the judiciary that we have not resolved, where certain aspects have been identified that are related to what the Government should undertake, and some are related to the work of the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor's Office. And here I agree that we need to do more, and that is why we have committed to adopting all key reforms in the area of the judiciary and the fight against corruption that are part of the Reform Agenda by the end of this calendar year. Delayed procedures in the fight against high-level corruption, most often there is expiration of the statute of limitations in court cases - and that is not a criticism of the Government, it is a criticism of the judiciary. I claim that many judges and prosecutors in the country are honest people, professionals who do their job well, but unfortunately there are exceptions, those who have hijacked our judiciary, holding it hostage and thereby protecting certain political elites," Mucunski said.

He pointed out that the Government will do everything in its competence to eliminate these criticisms, noting however that it will continue to expect appropriate action from the judicial institutions, and if there is no such action, the Government will have to take additional measures.

As regards the criticism by SDSM leader Venko Filipche over the report, Mucunski said the opposition does not have the credibility to speak on this issue.

"The SDSM leader claims that the 2022 solution is a good solution. He claims that we have an anti-EU foreign policy and has often reiterated this without concept, while the EU says that one of the strongest links in the European integration system is the country's foreign policy," he said.

According to him, instead of bare criticism that is not realistic and not objective, we need to see what can be done together in order to move forward.

"Instead of saying that the 2022 proposal is good, it would probably be fair if the leader of the opposition apologized to the entire country for the mistakes that have been made that have led to this situation. But instead, he comes out with so-called red lines where a red line is nowhere to be seen, and thus he makes the country's positions worse when it acts outside its borders. So the contradiction of the opposition, both when it was in power and now, is constantly shown in action, and they do not have the credibility to speak on these issues," Mucunski added.

On whether the report is fair, given that Ukraine, which is at war, has received positive assessments, Mucunski said as a minister he is not to evaluate the portfolios of other countries that have candidate status, but rather to focus on the obligations the country has, as well as to make the most of the moment from the point of view of the EU's interest in enlargement, but also to make the most of all additional EU instruments that are currently underway - the Growth Plan, the green belts, free roaming and all policies related to the process of the so-called gradual integration of candidate countries towards EU membership.

"I believe that our message has been heard in Brussels, I believe that there will soon be certain positive initiatives in the coming period to find ways to ensure predictability. We have no intention of retreating from such positions and from all that we have set as our expectations from the EU. And in the meantime, I agree - in addition to solving that complex problem created by the current opposition and former government, we must commit to reforms at home," he said.

I have heard, Mucunski noted, that our case has been called a regrettable, tragic and unfair case. "Our case is essentially where the European Union itself violates the fundamental values ​​that are embedded in its founding documents. I often say we are protecting you, so that you do not violate the system that you have built. And that is why we are asking for these guarantees, that is why we are asking for this predictability because the practice we are seeing in our case is now creating frustration when other member states block Ukraine and Moldova," he added.

As regards Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski's announcements about intensified activities after New Year's in terms of European integration, and whether there are any signals from Sofia regarding the country's requests, he said that for the process to be successful, we need to protect its confidentiality.

"If we want a process to be successful, we need to protect its confidentiality. We will continue to be principled, we have clear positions, but I believe that where there is a will, there is a way. And I also say this in terms of the EU, i.e. if it wants to deliver, it will find a way. We constantly discuss that process. Part of the meeting with the European Council President António Costa in Brussels was also related to this issue, so it is not that we are starting something just now - the process is ongoing and will continue until a credible and sustainable solution is found, and citizens should know that it will not be a solution like the one of the previous government - at any cost, and a solution that will put us in a situation where, having changed the country's constitutional name, having changed the flag, and a series of changes to our Constitution, we will again be in the same place where we were more than 20 years ago," Mucunski pointed out.