EC roadmaps for four countries could be encouragement for North Macedonia, analysts say

Experts on a televised debate said the European Commission's recently announced indicative roadmaps for Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova could serve as a useful example for North Macedonia — but only if Skopje takes its own decisions at home.

Dimitar Nikolovski, executive director of Eurothink, argued on MRT 1's 360 Degrees programme that the reasons North Macedonia was not included among the four countries are also linked to the domestic handling of the Negotiating Framework.

Experts: roadmaps can increase predictability — but decisions must come from inside

"I had a feeling as early as 2022 that we would sleep on one ear — that the European Union would change itself and that it would become easier for us to enter and integrate. That may happen according to the discussion we had, but at the end of the day we know that the fact that we are not there now as part of those four countries is our responsibility," Nikolovski said.

He linked Skopje's absence from the list to the refusal to accept the Negotiating Framework and to other domestic choices. "Our refusal to accept the framework, for which there is quite a broad national consensus, I would say, on this question. So the ball is again, as regards the roadmaps, in our hands — whether we will have roadmaps or not," he added.

Political analyst Toni Popovski said the roadmaps matter to the public because, if they deliver a clearer architecture and greater predictability, they could encourage the government and the Assembly to treat them as one possible guarantee that the accession process will lead to full membership. He also warned that the institutional status of such documents needs clarification — whether they will be adopted by political bodies of member states or used within the Commission's own competences.

Panelists also noted that North Macedonia can continue reforms without a new roadmap and can pursue alignment measures within a gradual integration process. Nikolovski referred to public-opinion research showing continued strong support for EU membership and said debates about abandoning the EU path are counterbalanced by a larger portion of the public that prefers maintaining a Western orientation even if full membership seems unlikely in the next five years.

Photo: press material from the event