Mickoski: EU or NATO should attend talks with Bulgaria

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said on Tuesday that talks with Bulgaria should be held in the presence of representatives from the European Union or NATO so that arguments on both sides are heard objectively and have real effect.

Mickoski reacted to media reports about an alleged EU plan to accelerate integration for four candidate countries that would not include North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying he had no such information and calling exclusion illogical given the reforms delivered under the Reform Agenda and the Growth Plan.

He is due to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday in Skopje and said their discussion will cover the current state of the enlargement process, challenges that have emerged and expectations for the coming period.

Calls for third-party presence at bilateral talks

Asked whether he would raise EU participation in talks with Bulgaria during the meeting, Mickoski insisted that previous bilateral meetings without a third party “did not have substantive effect.” He said that would change only if European Commission or NATO representatives were present to assess arguments impartially.

“It is logical to sit down and talk in the presence of EU representatives because the arguments must be heard objectively. When we meet and talk bilaterally, what is discussed has no substance. Nor is the briefing afterwards the same as what was discussed. I believe that to have any effect, to have substance in those talks, it is good to have representatives from the European Commission to hear the arguments. If our arguments do not hold, then we are ready to accept the other arguments,” Mickoski said.

He also noted that, at present, there is no direct personal communication with the Bulgarian side. Von der Leyen is scheduled to visit Skopje on Friday and will meet with Mickoski and with Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova.

Photo: press material from the event