The panel was described as possibly having the most depressive topic at the conference, with a wide agreement that bilateral issues are hijacking the process of North Macedonia’s accession to the EU. This harms the public perception of EU credibility and slows down the motivation to undertake important reforms.

The panellists urged that there needs to be predictability in the accession process, based on merit, and that the same conditions should applied to all candidates. They warned that the status quo and the endless accession process will lead to stability and security threats, and to a democratic backsliding in a region where political competition is limited.

 

 

Marko Troshanovski, President of the Institute for Democracy, Skopje, started the discussion by referencing the negative effects of the French veto against the accession of North Macedonia, which took the wind out of society and damaged its democracy. He lamented that even though the majority of the population supports joining the EU, the enthusiasm is much lower, and the citizens no longer expect a transformative effect on society through the accession process. He noted that interethnic relations are fragile but functioning and that they depend on the European prospect of the region. Likewise, without the European perspective, he warned that the country could slide towards an illiberal government again, noting that the new government has set EU integration as their third priority, not the first.

 

 

Jana Faktor Juzová, Senior Research Fellow at EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, highlighted that North Macedonia’s experience with bilateral conditioning set a precedent, and was a wake-up call on how such disputes can undermine the EU accession process. She expressed the hope that the new European Commission would do more to mediate bilateral disputes, and will try to deal with them outside of enlargement. She explained that whenever the EU fails to deliver, Russia and China exploit the conditions and that they do not care about the Rule of Law. She also stressed that EU enlargement cannot be treated as a security and stability-driven process, but should focus on reform and democracy.

 

 

Malinka Ristevska Jordanova, a Member of the Security Council of North Macedonia, lamented that the bilateral demands of N.Macedonia’s neighbours were presented as reforms by political elites, while real reforms were put aside, leading to democratic backsliding. She warned that whenever the EU failed to fulfil its promises, the effects were disastrous on the internal situation. The Moderator, Katerina Sinadinovska, Co-founder of the Balkan Center for Constructive Policies “Solution”, highlighted the importance of the Rule of Law for EU accession, to which Ms. Ristevska Jordanova responded that the EU at the same time has parallel conditions, one related to reform and the other being direct demands. She added that it is implicit that accepting bilateral demands is a condition for joining and that Greece and Bulgaria are exploiting North Macedonia’s accession process by making demands in bad faith.