The Austrian, Slovak and Czech authorities strongly support North Macedonia’s membership in the European Union.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský and his Slovak counterpart Miroslav Wlachovský and Austrian Alexander Schallenberg held talks last week with representatives of the government, parliament and the parliamentary opposition of North Macedonia with the aim of Slavkov forming the States to support North Macedonia’s membership in the bloc, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The authorities of these three countries also wanted to know the opinion of the main political actors, according to the press release from the Czech Foreign Ministry.
The visit by the foreign ministers of these three countries to North Macedonia comes at a time when the latter is discussing constitutional changes, approval of which is a condition for further progress in accession negotiations with the bloc.
The ministers were acting on behalf of the Council of the EU, under the mandate of the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.
In addition, the foreign ministers of the Slavkov format countries also held talks with their counterpart from North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, on reforms on the path to EU membership, the steps taken by this country of the Balkans to promote good neighborly relations and the implications of Russian aggression against the EU enlargement policy.
“I appreciated that North Macedonia is fully aligned with the EU’s common foreign and security policy, including sanctions against Russia. I also congratulated Minister Osmani on North Macedonia’s successful chairmanship of the OSCE. underlined the head of Czech diplomacy Jan Lipavský.
The Austrian, Slovak and Czech ministers also met with the President of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, and also spoke with the Speaker of Parliament, Talat Xhaferi.
The ministers of the above-mentioned countries also held a meeting with the leader of the most powerful opposition party in North Macedonia, VMRO-DPMNE, and members of the government as well as the opposition of the Parliament of Macedonia. North, asked how these three countries could help ensure that the politically sensitive issue of constitutional change could be resolved primarily for the benefit of North Macedonian society.
“The current geopolitical situation is an opportunity that North Macedonia can take advantage of. » Minister Lipavsky noted this.
North Macedonia was identified as a potential candidate for membership in the bloc in 2003, while in July 2022 the intergovernmental conference on accession negotiations was held with the North Macedonian authorities and the Commission began the selection process.
The Balkan country’s accession to the EU was blocked by Bulgaria’s objections linked to cultural and linguistic conflicts. However, the Austrian, Slovak and Czech authorities intend to address these challenges and support the reforms necessary to help this country achieve its objective and becoming the newest member of the EU.