North Macedonia and its quest for Euro-Atlantic Integration

In a time when Europe is divided and geopolitical tensions are high, North Macedonia has delivered on its promises. By reaching the Prespa Agreement with Greece and normalising relations with Bulgaria, it has bolstered its efforts to join the EU and NATO.

That was the main conclusion that participants reached during Friends of Europe’s ‘Conversation With’ the President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski.

President Pendarovski stressed the importance of his country’s new agreements with its neighbours and the citizens’ support for the Prespa Agreement in a recent referendum. He also reminded the audience that his country is making great strides to better reflect its multi-ethnic identity – elevating the Albanian language to co-official language status and receiving a large backing from multi-ethnic political parties.

However, President Pendarovski also warned that this is far from over. He wants to see EU accession negotiations start before the end of the year. Despite some EU member states expressing doubts about accession talks, he remains optimistic and reminded everyone that no EU member state has really positioned itself against North Macedonia’s accession. When asked if he had a plan B to the EU, he said “my plan B is EU accession”, thus reiterating his commitment to making North Macedonia the next EU member state.

He also hopes that North Macedonia will become the Alliance’s 30th member before the next NATO summit in London. When asked if NATO was perhaps suffering from enlargement fatigue, he recalled that “fatigue goes both ways”, as Skopje is also tired of waiting. Failing to deliver on promises could leave many of those who voted in favour of the Prespa Agreement disillusioned.

When asked if any agreements with neighbouring countries could be threatened by EU inaction, President Pendarovski told the audience that reconciliation initiatives are already in motion with Bulgaria and that he is confident the upcoming Greek parliamentary elections won’t change current relations or the Prespa Agreement.

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