Sofia, 28 December 2023 (MIA) - North Macedonia is missing an enormous opportunity by rejecting the implementation of required reforms that will enable the country to finally start the EU accession negotiations, says Bulgarian Member of European Parliament (MEP) and North Macedonia Rapporteur Ilhan Kyuchyuk.

"Skopje is missing a huge window of opportunity that won't open in the next few years. EU is changing very fast," Kyuchyuk told BGNES.

He adds that the EU enlargement policy is primarily a geopolitical issue, which can be seen clearly from the example of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

"Today, North Macedonia is facing a big dilemma that is political but also social. Does it want to continue on the part of its civilizational development, reforming all societal spheres, thus bringing its citizens closer to the EU, or does it want to stay in the same place? The two largest political parties, SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE, must solve this. I have always said that opportunities should not be missed, because it will take North Macedonia further from the EU," says Kyuchyuk.

According to him, there is a probability that Albania begins accession negotiations in March or April, putting North Macedonia in the group with Kosovo and Serbia and giving further incentive to the anti-European forces.

Photo: MIA archive