During visits to North Macedonia and Bulgaria, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for the immediate start of EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia. “The accession negotiations that were promised two years ago must start now. In any case, I will campaign for it,” said Scholz in Skopje. However, Bulgaria continues to insist on preconditions. Nevertheless, following his tour of the Balkans, the German chancellor saw a new dynamic for the EU accession process.
“The Berlin Process, which has been trying to advance this development for many years, will be revived,” he said in Sofia on Saturday at the end of his visits to Kosovo, Serbia, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. “Everyone asked me to do this. We will comply with this request.” As a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine, Scholz also sees a new willingness on the part of many EU member states “to support this path of the Western Balkans into the European Union more actively than has been the case for many years”.
After talks with North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski on Saturday morning, Scholz reiterated that Germany is serious regarding integrating the Western Balkan states into the EU. “This applies in particular to North Macedonia. The EU has its word to North Macedonia in particular, which has fulfilled all the requirements for the start of accession negotiations.” Scholz praised the “political power” that made it possible for the country to reach an understanding with Greece. “That’s why we should still succeed in the rest of the tasks.”
Almost 20 years ago, the six countries in the Western Balkans were given the prospect of joining the EU. “As the European Union, we also have an obligation to implement and realize the credibility of our own promises,” said the German Chancellor.
Kovacevski made it clear that his country hoped the EU summit in June would confirm the start of accession negotiations. “We expect a step that we deserve.” North Macedonia has made great efforts and reformed the administration and the judiciary. “Chancellor Scholz’s visit is a strong signal that Berlin recognizes that we meet the criteria for starting accession negotiations.”
North Macedonia has been an EU accession candidate for 17 years. In July 2020, the EU Commission basically gave the green light for concrete negotiations. However, these are blocked by Bulgaria because of a dispute over historiography and the rights of the Bulgarian minority in North Macedonia.
Apparently, the visit of the German Chancellor on Saturday did not change that. Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Kiril Petkov continued to insist on the preconditions for starting accession talks with North Macedonia. To do this, the EU would have to guarantee that the Bulgarians living in North Macedonia would be included in the constitution so that their rights would be respected, Petkow said following talks with Scholz in Sofia on Saturday.
Scholz also campaigned in Sofia for the start of EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia, but also showed understanding for the difficulties in finding compromises. “These things cannot be decreed, they have to be achieved together,” he said. “I think there are opportunities for progress.” Scholz called for overcoming the historical differences.
At the end of his trip to the Western Balkans, the German Chancellor said that there were also many problems between the countries in the region. “They are well known. But they are not insurmountable problems.” In the talks, he tried to “help ensure that everyone comes together”. This is also possible.
This applies to the relationship between North Macedonia and Bulgaria as well as to the relationship between Kosovo and Serbia. “There, too, it is clear that there can only be one common path. And I have the impression that we have made progress.” Not just anyone in Brussels or Berlin can decide what is right, said Scholz. “We can only make a very strong contribution to unblocking processes that have been blocked for years, to ensuring that new dynamics come into play. And I seem to have succeeded in doing that.”
Austria is also urging the start of accession negotiations with the Western Balkan countries. Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) described it as a “condition” that if Ukraine was granted candidate status, “the same applies to the states of the Western Balkans and to the Republic of Moldova,” Nehammer said in a press conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas Friday.
