Ursula von der Leyen to visit Skopje on Friday; Brussels warns stalled accession may push North Macedonia toward Russia or China

Ursula von der Leyen will visit Skopje on Friday as Brussels prepares a new draft roadmap for gradual EU integration and voices concern that persistent delays could push North Macedonia closer to Russia or China.

Brussels plan to be presented next week

According to the draft that Brussels plans to present to candidate countries next week, the proposal — prepared by expert Aleksandar Adam, regarded as the architect of the French proposal — would offer gradual integration into the single market, including easier trade and access to research programmes while the accession process continues.

The draft envisages special, accelerated roadmaps for Ukraine, Moldova, Albania and Montenegro in the coming years, while for other candidates the process would remain slower.

“For North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Turkey, the process continues to be delayed, which increases fears of their drifting away from the EU and toward Russia or China,” the document says.

Von der Leyen begins her Western Balkans tour in Tirana and will stop in Skopje on Friday. She will not visit Serbia and Bosnia this time because of upcoming parliamentary elections; discussions during the Balkans visits are expected to cover the announced new roadmaps.

On the eve of the meeting, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said the government’s positions on the EU accession process are well known. The main opposition SDSM accused the government of delaying constitutional amendments and warned that the ruling camp was preparing excuses: “Mickoski’s ‘aramija’ has already prepared the list of excuses: referendum in Iceland, wars, elections in provinces where extremist structures win, Le Pen in France, the world is changing, the rest is not up to us.”

Photo: press material from the event