If the accession process fails to move forward, it will be hard for the European Union to maintain its credibility in the Western Balkans after so many delays, Deputy PM Nikola Dimitrov told a news conference in Ljubljana alongside Slovenian Foreign Minister Anže Logar.
This year, Dimitrov mentioned, the country marks two decades since signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU all the while being a candidate country for 16 years.
“We solved the issue with Greece, we waited for the new methodology to increase trust in the accession process. We are facing now the final, I hope, challenge with our neighbor, Bulgaria,” said Dimitrov, who is in charge of European affairs.
The national strategy, he added, is based on three pillars – negotiations and seeking mutually, dignified and European understanding with Bulgaria; reforms at home, primarily in several responsible institutions focused on the first cluster of the revised methodology, titled Fundamentals, since “the objective of the accession process is implementing European standards at home.”
The third pillar, said the diplomat, is assistance and support from our friends, such as Slovenia. “In a few months, Slovenia will take over the presidency of the Council of the EU. I congratulated Anže, who informed me about the priorities of the Slovenian presidency, including our region alongside the health situation and cyber security,” Dimitrov told the news conference.
He called Slovenia ‘one of the country’s key friends.’ “This year is key for our region of the Western Balkans concerning credibility and tangibility of the European perspective,” the Deputy PM said.
Slovenian Minister Logar said he had a productive meeting with Dimitrov, where they discussed North Macedonia’s accession to EU and what Slovenia would include in the agenda of its EU presidency.
“Reforms for North Macedonia are vital and the country has the support regarding the opening of negotiations with the EU,” he said, stressing Slovenia would keep supporting the start of negotiations with the EU.
Logar also said that an important segment of Slovenia’s EU presidency would be the conference for the future of Europe with priorities including the health crisis, healthcare and cyber security.
