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Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia. Belarus Ukraine. Follow Us. Previous Next. But after 16 years of waiting and "too much trauma," can Skopje overcome the hurdles it faces to join the bloc? North Macedonia was officially included in the agenda for EU enlargement in ; the promissory note that Brussels offered Skopje on the conditions of good behavior and reforms is now older than the country's new name.
Yet with a track record of steady reforms, Skopje has seen the process slowed down to a virtual halt , which has not only raised issues about the European future of the country but has also increased internal pressure and political friction helping to buttress anti-European sentiments.
The postponed European aspirations of North Macedonia are also seen by critics within and outside the bloc as a cautionary tale about the untamed power of member states with veto power over long political and institutional processes. As the PM pointed out to Kelly, North Macedonia is a country "surrounded completely by European Union member countries" but still denied membership. Its European aspirations have meant that Skopje does not merely have to satisfy the Copenhagen criteria that require the completion of institutional reforms to guarantee democratic safeguards and guarantees of the rule of EU law in the country, but it has also been forced to cater to the whims of some of its neighbors, who within the EU club have the capacity to veto its accession.
None has shown the compelling power of the EU promise more than the Greek demand imposed on then-Macedonia to change its name. The change of name, which came at great political cost, came via a referendum in , during Zaev's first term in office — but did not bring the matter to an end.
This was met by a rebuke from Athens, which did not only complain but put a memorandum of cooperation between the two countries on hold, presumably to impress upon the Macedonian prime minister how far Athens would go to keep the name Macedonia for itself. Then in , Bulgaria, which had supported Macedonian aspirations, turned to the EU with another demand : the recognition of the Macedonian language as a dialect of Bulgarian.
As Bulgarian President Rumen Radev explained: "We cannot say 'Yes' before being convinced that our neighbor won't be building its identity by stealing from Bulgaria's history. And thus, as Zaev pointed out to Kelly, "Bulgaria became a problem for [Macedonian] integration.
Late in June, Zaev visited Sofia with what were reported to be "concrete proposals" to start negotiations with the caretaker government to end the crisis. However, the content of the proposal was never clarified and it triggered a political firestorm in Skopje that threatened the stability of the Zaev government. For conservatives in the country, Zaev's current negotiation with Sofia has some of the trappings and forms of the Greek demand for a name change.
Yet Zaev has come to read his reelection as a referendum on that process. Joseph argues that if the EU members are not able to bring sufficient pressure on Bulgaria and North Macedonia to move the process forward, the United States should step in.
President Joe Biden had himself argued in the s for the Clinton administration to do more to integrate the Balkans with western Europe. And unfortunately, the EU is not assuming the leadership as it should," he said. So many promises that have been given to North Macedonia, that have been broken, and this is another one now," he told VOA Macedonian. These are all entities that have experience in resolution of bilateral disputes. Search Search. Home United States U.
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