Kos: North Macedonia must include Bulgarians in the Constitution to continue Eurointegration

European Union (EU) Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos confirmed that the government in Skopje must fulfill its promise and include Bulgarians in the Constitution for North Macedonia to continue its European integration.

Kos stated this in an interview with the Bulgarian national broadcaster BNT when asked how she could influence Skopje to adopt constitutional amendments and include Bulgarians in its constitution, in order to unblock North Macedonia’s EU accession process.

The EU Commissioner for Enlargement emphasized that she would be much happier if they could take advantage of the current enlargement momentum for North Macedonia as well, and that she believes in the new Bulgarian government, with which, as she pointed out, she cooperates very well.

“Together we will find a way to launch the process with North Macedonia. Of course, the government in North Macedonia must fulfill its promise. They must amend the constitution, this was agreed between North Macedonia and the 27 EU member states. When that is done, I will count on the support of your country (Bulgaria) so that we can move forward with North Macedonia,” said Marta Kos.

North Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations have been blocked due to a bilateral issue with Bulgaria, which became part of the Negotiating Framework.

Skopje began the “first phase” of negotiations in July 2022 by adopting the Negotiating Framework, but to move to the “second phase” and start opening chapters, it must include Bulgarians in the Constitution.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski’s government does not want to do this without guarantees that it is the last bilateral demand in the accession negotiations.