Brussels, 6 December 2023 (MIA) – Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski and Deputy PM for European Affairs and Chief EU Negotiator Bojan Marichikj will attend in Brussels on Wednesday the final session of the screening on Cluster 6, which includes Chapter 30: External Relations and Chapter 31: Foreign, Security and Defence Policy.

Kovachevski is set to open the bilateral screening meeting on Cluster 6. According to an official press release, after Chapters 30 and 31 are closed, the EU screening process for North Macedonia will be officially complete.

PM Kovachevski will also hold a working meeting in the European Parliament with lawmakers and members of the EP's Socialists and Democrats group, discussing the EU Enlargement and the importance of European integration for North Macedonia and the region. 

Deputy PM Marichikj will hold working meetings with the European Commissioner for Promoting European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, and with the Director-General of the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) Gert Jan Koopman.

On Friday, the Deputy PM will hold the 5th meeting of the WBIF Strategic Board with the Director-General of DG NEAR, Gert Jan Koopman, and with the Director General of Norway’s Department for Europe and International Trade, Frode Overland Andersen. The topic of the meetings will be the status of the EU’s enlargement policy with a special emphasis on the Growth Plan for the economies of the Western Balkan countries, as well as the status of reforms and other current issues in the country. 

Marichikj took part on Tuesday in a Seminar on Enlargement, organized by the European Parliament’s Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D). He addressed a panel discussion on "Ambitious policy and active preparations: how to implement the Progressive agenda for enlargement", pointing out that the EU accession policy is proving to be a driver of peace, democracy, the rule of law and well-being in Europe for all the countries that have been covered by the previous enlargements.

According to Marichikj, if the EU wants to be a geopolitical player, it must "remain an open project", with a clear target that the accession negotiations with the candidate countries for the next enlargement should be completed by the end of 2030. 

"When it comes to the Western Balkans and how realistic the 2030 target is for the next EU enlargement with the countries of this region, it only depends on each candidate country in the region and on the European Union," said Marichikj.

He noted that with the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, as an integral instrument of the Enlargement Package, has provided the region with an accelerated path to EU along with a time frame within which the homework needs to be completed.  

He said that the mission of the current Government of North Macedonia is to create conditions for the citizens of the region to feel what it is like to be part of the European Union much earlier than expected, with a focus on the implementation of the Growth Plan and with 2030 as a target for accession.

Marichikj pointed out that North Macedonia is facing an important battle in terms of adopting the constitutional amendments, as well as a fight for victory in the coming elections of the pro-European bloc led by the social democrats and progressive political forces over the anti-European bloc, which aims to take the country back to the tunnel in which it spent 11 years and in which society was completely suffocated.

The panel discussion was moderated by MEP Alessandra Moretti. Kosovo's Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Hajrulla Çeku, Ukraine's Deputy Director of the Governmental Office for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Ivan Nagornyak, and Chairman of the Georgian Progressive Forum, Dimitri Tskitishvili, also took part in the discussion.  

The seminar began with opening remarks by S&D vice-president for Foreign Affairs Pedro Marques and a keynote speech by S&D President Iratxe García Pérez. It also included open exchange between MEPs and invited guests with the participation of S&D (Shadow) Rapporteurs and Delegation Chairs for the Western Balkans, Türkiye, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, sister party representatives from the Western Balkans and Türkiye and representatives of partner organisations in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Closing remarks were delivered by MEP and S&D co-ordinator for Foreign Affairs, Tonino Picula.

Photo: MIA archive