Both North Macedonia's president and prime minister slammed stumbling blocks put in place by Brussels over a dispute with Bulgaria over Balkan history, language and culture.
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North Macedonia's conservative prime minister has reacted angrily to reports that his country's troubled EU accession bid hit a new hurdle because of a dispute with neighbouring bloc member Bulgaria.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said that the EU was trying to "dictate" what North Macedonia should do and suggested that he would accept no further delay in membership talks with the 27-nation bloc.
Mickoski's comments followed reports that EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Wednesday decided to push ahead with Albania's EU accession process, independently of North Macedonia's.
Up to now, the two bids had been moving together.
European Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero declined to confirm that Albania and North Macedonia’s negotiating paths had been separated but did suggest that the two countries are on different tracks or time frames.
"Our position is very clear, the Commission looks forward to the start of negotiations...as soon as possible with Albania, and with North Macedonia as soon as possible once North Macedonia has met the relevant criteria," Pisonero said.
The EU started membership talks with the two Balkan countries in 2022 as the war in Ukraine forced a rethink of the bloc's enlargement process. They became EU candidates two decades ago, although their accession talks never commenced.
But the Macedonian bid was then delayed by a dispute with Bulgaria over Balkan history, language and culture.
To break the impasse, the previous centre-left government in Skopje accepted a Bulgarian demand to insert a reference to a Bulgarian ethnic minority in North Macedonia's constitution.
However, it lacked the parliamentary majority to effect the change, and Mickoski's new conservative government says it will only amend the constitution if Bulgaria first approves North Macedonia's EU membership.
Mickoski said that it was unfair to link his country's EU prospects with Bulgaria's demand.
"For me, this is a dictate," he said.
"If this is the condition for (North) Macedonia to continue negotiations, then I said that in Brussels — no thanks!"
Those comments were echoed by North Macedonia President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova who used her speech at the UN General Assembly to say the country's path to EU membership was like "waiting for Godot".
"To us, membership in the European Union after 20 years of negotiations and 16 positive European Commission reports resembles Mr Godot, because we have been waiting for him since 2005, always encouraged by international representatives with the refrain. Just this one condition or just this one concession more," she said.
The country's EU path was blocked for years by neighbouring Greece over another dispute over history and heritage. It was settled in 2018 after North Macedonia changed its name, from "the Republic of Macedonia".
The main opposition Social Democrats' leader Venko Filipche blamed Mickoski's government for the new setback.
"This is a huge disaster for the future of the citizens," Filipche said. "This is a missed opportunity that will affect many families and a whole new generation."