France ready to help ensure no new bilateral conditions after North Macedonia implements the agreement, says Benjamin Haddad
Benjamin Haddad says Paris will work with the European Commission and partners to ensure certainty — but the Government in Skopje must implement the agreement.
France is prepared to help unfreeze North Macedonia's EU accession process and to work with the European Commission and partners to send a clear message that, after the implementation of the existing agreement, no additional bilateral conditions will be imposed, French Minister for Europe Benjamin Haddad said in an exclusive interview on the MRT programme "Nadvoresna — The World in Dialogue" — his first address to the Macedonian public.
Haddad said Paris wants to inject greater confidence and certainty into the process but stressed that the Government of North Macedonia bears the responsibility to implement the obligations it agreed to, and that the agreement itself cannot be changed.
He added that it is legitimate to make clear that once those measures have been carried out, accession negotiations should open and the country should continue along a normal path: carrying out reforms, aligning legislation, opening clusters and closing chapters, without new additions or steps outside the usual procedure each candidate country follows.
According to Haddad, that message must be sent unequivocally by all 27 EU member states.
He said France will coordinate with the European Commission and other partners to build and communicate that certainty, while underlining the central role of Skopje in delivering the agreed reforms.
Photo: Fejsbuk)
