As a confident European I remain optimistic. Germany made a promise to do its best during its EU presidency to start accession negotiations with North Macedonia. And I feel an obligation to fulfil this promise. Negotiations haven’t failed yet, but there’s still a lot of work to do, German Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth said in a join interview with North Macedonia’s Deputy PM for European Affairs Nikola for German national daily newspaper Die Welt.
“At the recent meeting of the Council of Ministers almost all delegations reiterated that bilateral issues should remain between two countries and that we should focus on other issues crucial for starting accession talks. We desperately need to send a positive signal to the Western Balkans. We have to admit that North Macedonia and Albania have achieved excellent results in past years. North Macedonia made history by signing the Friendship Treaty with Bulgaria and resolving the 30-year-long name dispute with Greece. This progress should be rewarded,” Roth said.
According to Deputy PM Dimitrov, Bulgaria’s decision to block North Macedonia’s accession negotiations comes as no surprise, but is nonetheless disappointing.
“It’s not productive for politicians to discuss historical issues. This region has rich history, but we never could offer younger generations future prospects. That’s how we came to the idea to leave historians to discuss history, while we tend to issues relevant for our present and future. We weren’t surprised, but we were disappointed. The European Union, based on the Lisbon Treaty, respects cultural and language diversity. It’s really hard to explain to people in North Macedonia that their language has become an obstacle for joining a community that appreciates and treasures language diversity. And it’s also hard to explain why language presents an issue to promoting good-neighbourly relations that should be based on mutual respect,” Dimitrov noted.
Regarding possible resolution of the conflict with Bulgaria, in light of signing the Prespa Agreement with Greece, he pointed out that one of the main reasons North Macedonia managed to resolve the dispute with Greece was the fact that the Prespa Agreement in no way affected the Macedonian language and identity, but on the contrary, confirmed the right to self-determination.
“Relations between countries are based on international law. We live in 2020 Europe. I have the right to decide who I am, without interference from my country, let alone any other state. Countries also have a right to call their language what they want. It’s really not productive to turn this issue into a bilateral political dispute,” Dimitrov said.
He stressed that to achieve dispute resolution, focus has to be put on problems that can be solved and not make the issue of identity a precondition for North Macedonia’s European future.
“It’s not right for Macedonians in 2020 to have to decide whether they want to remain Macedonian or become European. These two go hand in hand. The goals of building friendship with Bulgaria, starting EU accession talks and protecting our right to self-determination and identity are interconnected. We’ll continue discussions in the next few weeks and hopefully, with the help of Germany’s EU Presidency, we’ll find common ground with Bulgaria,” Deputy PM Dimitrov told Die Welt.
Regarding the power of Germany’s EU Presidency in reaching a compromise, Roth stressed the region’s strategic importance for the stability of EU and Bulgaria.
“We’re in contact with both sides. At the end of the day, the keay argument is that the Western Balkans isn’t the backyard, but the central yard of Europe. Stability, peace, regional reconciliation are of crucial importance for Europe and especially this neighbourhood. Bulgaria’s security and stability will be threatened if the situation in its neighbourhood isn’t stable. Our goal is to clarify issues crucial for accession negotiations and a few bilateral issues, which according to Bulgaria stem from improper implementation of the Friendship Treaty,” Roth underlined.
We encourage both countries, he added, to find a way to resolve bilateral issues step by step.
“Historical issues are a sensitive topic. They can’t be resolved in a few weeks. Bulgaria and North Macedonia established a committee of historias. Common ground can’t be found overnight, and therefore shouldn’t block the start of accession talks and holding the first intergovernmental conference in December,” the Minister stressed during the interview.
Deputy PM Dimitrov said that postponing the start of accession negotiations would result in huge disappointment in North Macedonia.
“People lose hope in the possibility of approaching Europe. The whole region is in a race with time. Young people are moving away, chasing European prospects. We need these young people to create these prospects here. Obstacles always go in favor of sceptics and nationalists. Slim hopes for making the European vision a reality harm implementation of pro-European reforms,” Dimitrov added.
North Macedonia’s previous Prime Minister, he noted, lost direction when the country failed to join NATO in 2008.
“If we fail, we’ll have to focus our energy in the right direction, speed up implementation of reforms. EU accession accelerate the reforms process. If we can’t officially start talks, we’ll probably ask interested member states help us implement reforms in key areas to stay in good shape for when circumstances change,” Dimitrov said during the interview.
Moreover, he explained for German audiences the Macedonian identity and the country’s need to start EU accession talks.
“North Macedonia is a small, but generous country, located in the middle of the Balkans. It has no access to sea, but is filled with green mountains and beautiful lakes. The process of forming the Macedonian nation started in the second half of the 19th century and culminated in 1944. It cannot be understood separate from the influence of other national ideas in the Balkans, as is also the case with all other national aspirations in Europe and the world,” the Deputy PM noted.
He went on to explain that the country was one of the six members of former Yugoslavia and gained its independence in 1991. Today, North Macedonia is a multiethnic, democratic society.
“The majority of its population consists of Macedonians, Orthodox Christians. Than, there are also the Albanians, Serbs, Roma people, the Turks, etc. What we see in Europe is hope for prosperity and a community of shared values. We need the accession process to bring Europe into our country. When people in North Macedonia talk about Europe, they refer to independent judiciary, rule of law, freedom of media, strong institutions, clean air. That’s why we want to start accession negotiations,” Dimitrov stressed.
He underlined that North Macedonia has been an EU candidate country for 15 years. It was the first country to sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, but lost precious time due to the name dispute with Greece.
“Later in Brussels, at Paris’ request, a new accession negotiations methodology was created. Now, our last obstacle comes from our neighbour to the east,” Deputy PM Dimitrov told Die Welt in a joint interview with German Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth for Die Welt.
