Timcho Mucunski: EU members must respect rule-of-law standards
Mucunski called for credible, merit-based EU accession and said dialogue with Bulgaria will continue but requires consensus from all member states.
Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski said he expects North Macedonia's EU accession process to be credible, predictable and merit-based, and urged EU member states to respect rule-of-law standards. He made the remarks at a joint press conference with Slovakian Minister Juraj Blanar.
Mucunski addressed the case of Iva Mihajlova, saying it was inappropriate for an EU member state to serve as a refuge for people convicted of crimes or for those facing judicial proceedings in their home country.
"It is truly indecent for a member state of the European Union to become a refuge for those who are either convicted of criminal acts or are persons about whom there is a degree of suspicion and proceedings are being conducted in the courts of the country," the minister said.
Dialogue with Bulgaria and the need for consensus
Mucunski said the dialogue with Sofia will continue and stressed that any progress on the EU path requires consensus among all member states. He recalled recent talks in Montenegro with the French minister for European affairs and said the issue was part of his discussions with Blanar as well.
"There is dialogue and it will continue. A few days ago in Montenegro I met with the French minister for European affairs, and among other things we discussed this topic. Today my colleague Juraj is here and this was a subject we actively discussed because, after all, all decisions related to our European integration require the consensus of all members. That means any solution we work on with Bulgaria, which hypothetically would be in line with our positions and sustainable, needs to have the consensus of all member states. So, there is dialogue with Bulgaria, there is dialogue with European institutions on this matter, and there is dialogue with all member states of the European Union. We will continue to work on this because we have no alternative to the European path," Mucunski said.
The minister also noted that no meeting is currently planned with his Bulgarian counterpart Velislava Petrova.
Photo: press material from the event
