Secret talks "behind the radar" or political score-settling over the EU file?

Political rivals traded accusations on whether the government is conducting secret talks to unblock North Macedonia's EU path, while officials insist some diplomacy must remain confidential. Opposition SDSM says the executive is negotiating and quietly accepting a French proposal; ruling VMRO-DPMNE rejects those claims.

SDSM's international cooperation secretary Andrej Zhernovski accused the foreign minister of contradicting himself and of shifting to domestic politics. He said: "After 10 days he remembered to contradict himself and to say that SDSM are lying. Not him. After he fixed the situation in Aerodrom municipality, after he fixed our diplomacy, he fixed the situation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and now they have given him the task to deal with domestic politics. And now he will threaten the opposition, the citizens, that they are spreading panic."

VMRO-DPMNE demanded that SDSM publish the recording of the statement they claim exists and dismissed the opposition's citations as media headlines. In the party's words: "Regarding the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski, they rely on media headlines because they cannot find any statement, because such a statement does not exist."

Official denials and guarded diplomacy

The core question remains whether there are "behind the radar" conversations. In an interview on 03.08.2026, Timcho Mucunski said the government has worked on a solution since it took office but cannot make negotiation details public: "We often say that there are talks, we must not share the details of those talks, because if we begin to share them with the public, then we condemn them to failure."

Earlier, at a press conference on 24.07.2026, Mucunski reiterated that the public is informed about meetings where a solution is sought, but that the substance and details are not presented individually to the public: "The public is informed about all meetings where, among other things, the search for a solution is discussed. The content of those talks and the details of those talks, of course, we do not present individually to the public. Because if we present the details individually, then we would be negotiating and talking in front of the public and that would not lead to any solution."

EU Ambassador Michalis Rokas has also said work is taking place "behind the radar" to try to unblock the EU path. In his remark on 14.07.2026 he said: "I really hope that things will be able to move forward. I think a lot of work is already being done behind the radar — which is not visible, in order to complete the work. I hope a solution can be found soon."

For now, the political dispute between parties continues while no tangible breakthrough has been announced and North Macedonia's EU accession process remains stalled.

Photo: press material from the event