Mickoski: EU recognized misuse of veto by some member states

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said the European Union has recognized that some member states have been abusing their veto rights, using membership to press unrelated bilateral demands. He spoke after visiting a newly opened kindergarten in Shuto Orizari and was asked to comment on the European Commission's proposal to limit vetos over bilateral issues that do not pertain to enlargement.

“Clearly the situation there has been recognized: some member states are abusing their membership within the EU and are trying to go beyond the scope of accession by merit, attempting through their membership to resolve issues that have nothing to do with European values — and that has been recognized. I made a similar statement when in June I was in Tivat after the meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron,” Mickoski said in response to reporters' questions.

What Mickoski says about the Commission's proposal

Mickoski described as encouraging the Commission's announcement about a phased integration process into the European Union, and said North Macedonia already meets two of the three conditions the Commission set for starting gradual integration.

“The first condition will be specific for each country; these will be certain reforms that the state must carry out and which still need to be aligned. The second condition is that the country has a common foreign and defense policy — something that, as von der Leyen said, we as a state were the first to do and we already have aligned. The third concerns the public procurement system — a reform that we will complete during the next week and adopt in parliament. So, we have two of the three, and for the first we are waiting to see what will be delivered to us as a state by the European Commission,” he said.

The prime minister added that the government will do everything to begin the phased integration, join the single market and pursue several other positions for which the country has expressed interest in accession.

The European Commission presented new proposals on future EU enlargement yesterday, which foresee phased pre-accession integration of candidate countries and stronger safeguards in case a new member backtracks on commitments after joining.

Photo: Vlada