The ruling party in North Macedonia, VMRO-DPMNE, has become so entangled in its election rhetoric that it now does not know how to get out, commented the former President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski in an interview with MRT1 regarding the claims of the country's rulers that the changes to the constitution are not the last condition on Bulgaria's part on the country's path to the EU.
Pendarovski, who was President of North Macedonia in 2022, when the country's negotiating framework with the EU was signed, is categorical that signing it was not a mistake. According to him, the so-called French proposal, “in practice the European negotiating framework ultimately”, does not pose “any danger to the Macedonian identity”, which in his words is “the key determining factor (...) for any country trying to join this great European family”.
“The claims that Bulgaria will again try to block the process of (Northern) Macedonia's European integration due to identity issues are false, because there is nothing in the negotiating framework with the EU that could resemble a built-in mechanism or a hidden trap”, said Pendarovski, according to whom if Bulgaria wants to block North Macedonia's negotiations, it will not do so in connection with identity issues.
The widespread understanding in the country that North Macedonia can become an EU member only when the joint historical commission completes its work ”in a way that Bulgaria says”, Pendarovski described as a continuation of the pre-election campaign campaign of VMRO-DPMNE, with which it won the parliamentary elections in 2024.
„The campaign of this party was based on two things. First, that only as Bulgarians can we enter the EU and secondly - on dealbanization. Since then until today, we are already entering the third year, they have not said anything other than that we can only enter the EU as Bulgarianized former Macedonians. When you win elections, primarily because of these two things, you do not give them up, because they bring you dividends in the future. So it is a blatant deception that supposedly in the negotiating framework there is a provision that states: either you will write that everyone was Bulgarian, including the historical VMRO, or you will not continue towards EU membership. This is a lie, I repeat, this is a political lie, constructed in order to maintain the ratings of this ruling coalition“, said Pendarovski.
According to him, the current situation is “the last window of opportunity” for EU enlargement, opened mainly because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and from a geostrategic point of view it is important to start negotiations because “if there is no war there, no one will even look at the Western Balkans”.
“I think that if there was no geostrategic moment with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, neither Montenegro nor Albania, no one would be on the EU agenda in the near future. And if we miss this exceptional chance now, it will certainly not last more than a year, maximum a year and a half. I am afraid that we will remain in the group of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. Kosovo is not a recognized state, Bosnia is unfortunately dysfunctional”, said Pendarovski.
Regarding the letter of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, related to the possibilities of Ukraine's membership in the EU, which also mentions the Western Balkans, Pendarovski expressed the opinion that Merz's proposal was made for domestic political and economic reasons in Germany itself.
„At least two-thirds of Merz's proposal concerns Ukraine. To the associated membership of Ukraine. It is for Ukraine to receive associated membership, and everyone in Brussels knows that Ukraine cannot receive this status unless a peace agreement is concluded. So in practice, this is the commitment: let's calm the situation there (in Ukraine), it does not suit anyone, least of all the German economy. This is, in my opinion, the logic... And the next day, one of the smallest member states, Slovakia, says: "We do not accept the proposal". "Imagine - so this is a proposal that has neither been prepared nor discussed within the EU," Pendarovski said, adding that the EU's main documents do not formulate "gradual membership", which is the expectation related to the Western Balkan countries.