European Union Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos spent part of Wednesday, July 8th, hectoring Macedonia to be more like its eastern near-neighbour Montenegro and play its part in its own accession process.
Speaking in Skopje alongside the Balkan state’s prime minister Hristijan Mickoski, Kos said
We want the same [as Montenegro] for North Macedonia, but the adoption of the agreed constitutional amendments remains the necessary next step for formally launching [the next phase].
This is not the first time Macedonia has found its sovereignty squeezed. Back in 2005, the former Yugoslav republic was obliged to change its very name—via ‘Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ or ‘FIROM’—to appease Greece.
Since 2022, there has been continual pressure from EU member Bulgaria, which most recently blocked the accession process, by arguing that Skopje has yet to address the ‘minority rights’ issues related to the history and language of North Macedonian people who identify as Bulgarian.
Despite Mickoski’s sovereigntist political background, he sees no alternative to joining the EU—”no Plan B”—while he expects that constitutional concessions to Bulgaria will only result in more such pressure further down the line.
