European Parliament’s Rapporteur for North Macedonia, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, told MIA he was delighted to see that his progress report on the country was adopted with big majority of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), adding that important compromise has been reached.
The progress report on North Macedonia was adopted by 61 votes in favor, 4 votes against and 2 abstentions.
According to Bulgarian MEP Kyuchyuk, this is major success.
“We have great majority because we managed to get considerable support. All compromises have been made. I’ve been in the AFET for seven years now, and usually majority is around 50 votes. This is really wide support,” Kyuchyuk told MIA.
The European Parliament should take a vote on the progress report at a plenary session on March 25, where wide support is also expected.
The document highlights areas where progress has been made in North Macedonia, as well as areas where additional effort is needed. In terms of good neighborly relations and relations with Bulgaria, the report underlines their importance for the overall process.
“Good neighborly relations are an important part of the negotiating process. The process can see no progress if Bulgaria and North Macedonia fail to reach understanding. But good neighborly relations shouldn’t be part of the negotiating framework, “ MEP Kyuchyuk said.
According to him, it is now important that Skopje and Sofia restore the trust they had in 2017, which was “lost along the way”, leave historical issues to historians, and place an emphasis on the connection between the two sides in every aspect, including infrastructure, culture, education, etc.
“There are concrete things and they need to continue. They are really happening and it’s only on the basis of a positive narrative that progress can be made,” Kyuchyuk points out, adding that the biggest hurdle is distorted information and falsified facts aided by nationalists on both sides.
The EP rapporteur praised the broad compromise reached on the part of the report related to the adoption of the negotiating framework and holding the first intergovernmental conference. Namely, some of the members were in favor of the wording “as soon as possible”, while others “immediately.”
The final text calls for the intergovernmental conference to be held as soon as possible in order to prevent further delays.
