Skopje, 5 May 2025 (MIA) - It is understandable that an enlargement of the European Union would alter the internal configuration of power, but the enlargement with the Western Balkan countries is not a burden for the Union, President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova said on Monday talking about an analysis by the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS) which concluded that the influence of smaller countries in Eastern and Southern Europe would increase at the expense of larger western countries.

“All research and analyses show that we are not a burden for the absorption capacity of the European Union, even the entirety of the Western Balkans together. A country like Ukraine, if we were to add it to the EU, then the configuration of power in the decision-making process could change because the size of the population matters in the European Parliament. In addition to that, it is clear that a country which is at war, with such losses, would surely have an effect. The Swedes are perhaps thinking about something else, and that is what Mr. Macron has pointed to, that first the Union must solve its internal problems before it can open the door for others. That is also the logic of the new chancellor in Germany,” Siljanovska-Davkova said.

The President said it is “very logical” that the countries who have been negotiating for the longest would be the most prepared for accession.

“I don’t know how many positive reports we’ve had, it is paradoxical, and this says a lot about them, not us. I am not only referring to the Macedonian experience, I am also talking about Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, especially in the process of harmonization we have made a lot of progress and I don’t think we would complicate things at all. Sweden should know that when it joined NATO, NATO states also could have come up with some reasons or found reasons, but no one had issues with their accession. As Mr. Macron said, this is a sovereign right, and it is our sovereign right to enter politically where we have always been geographically, historically and culturally,” Siljanovska-Davkova said.

Photo: MIA