site.btaNorth Macedonia Needs to Work towards Fulfilling Preconditions for Formal Opening of EU Negotiations, EC President Costa Says

Speaking to journalists from different Western Balkans countries, including a correspondent of the Republic of North Macedonia’s Media Information Agency (MIA) in Brussels, European Council President Antonio Costa said Monday that North Macedonia's commitments in the process of European integration should be respected, but to achieve this, it is important for this country to strengthen the confidence with its neighbours, especially with Bulgaria.

"I have great respect for the huge effort made by North Macedonia in the past to overcome the obstacles, especially with Greece. It is a partner that even changed its name to overcome this obstacle. […] The sooner we manage to conclude the reforms, the sooner we manage to fulfil all the criteria, the sooner we conclude this process and each Western Balkan partners enter in the European Union and the sooner this happens, the sooner we will have a more safe, secure and prosperous Europe," he added, cited by MIA.

Regarding 2030, as a deadline set by his predecessor Charles Michel for a probable new EU enlargement, Costa stressed he doesn’t believe in "artificial calendars". 

"The most important thing is that all of us understand that we have little time, and that we have this sense of urgency. And each day it's more difficult for the people from the Western Balkans to believe that, in fact, one day we conclude this process," Costa said. 

Asked by MIA’s correspondent about the new momentum that needs to be given at this stage of the negotiation process, which Costa spoke of in his invitation for the upcoming EU summit, Costa said it referred not only to the negotiation process, but also to the implementation of the Growth Plan, which, in his words, is "a huge investment" in both infrastructure and reforms.

Regarding the assessments that the EU needs to implement internal reforms before it is ready to accept new members, Costa said the question of what should be done – enlargement or internal reforms – is "a classical debate" that existed before the Union’s enlargement with ten countries in 2004 as well.

“I think it's possible to manage these two processes in parallel. It's more difficult because that means more work, but it is not impossible to work on both processes at the same time. But the most important thing is to keep this accession process with the Western Balkans on track and to overcome this lack of confidence among the parties. But it's also necessary, let me stress this, that the Western Balkans partners make an effort to overcome their bilateral problems, to have a good result in this process,” Costa noted.