Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Von der Leyen: EU wants North Macedonia in the bloc

Von der Leyen: EU wants North Macedonia in the bloc

North Macedonia got a boost from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday for the country’s hopes of eventually joining the European Union amid a dispute with Bulgaria.
“We want you in the EU,” von der Leyen said in the Macedonian language in a speech to North Macedonia’s parliament.

Von der Leyen pledged her backing for a French proposal that will pave the way for accession talks for the tiny Balkan country and eliminate Bulgaria’s objections.

“Bilateral issues, such are history issues, are not conditions for accession,” von der Leyen told North Macedonia’s parliament. “There can be no doubt that Macedonian is your language.”

She added the French “proposal also respects your national identity,” and said it’s time for North Macedonia to move forward.

The difficulty of selling the French compromise proposal was evident as thousands of protesters outside the parliament building, denouncing the proposal as a sellout. Even inside parliament, while most lawmakers stood respectfully and applauded von der Leyen, she was briefly interrupted by whistles and shouts.

The proposal, announced by French President Emmanuel Macron at the NATO summit in Madrid last month, envisages concessions from both sides. The government in North Macedonia would commit to changing its constitution to recognize a Bulgarian minority, protect minority rights and banish hate speech, as Bulgaria, an EU member since 2007, has demanded.

The ruling Social Democrats and Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski are backing the proposal as a reasonable compromise. The government believes the deal doesn’t endanger national interests or identity and unblocks the path for the country to join the EU.

“I said ‘yes’ because this European proposal is the best solution at the moment,” Kovacevski told lawmakers.

But the center-right main opposition party, the VMRO-DPMNE, as well as others, disagree, saying the deal favors Bulgarian demands that question North Macedonia’s history, language, identity, culture and heritage.

Lawmaker Dafina Stojanovska from VMRO-DPMNE angrily ripped up document’s papers and said “no document that you would sign will have legitimacy until it receives the most important seal, which is the seal of the people.”

Political tensions in North Macedonia have been on the rise over the past 10 days, with several violent nightly protests.

Debate on the French proposal has begun with seemingly irreconcilable differences between the ruling leftist coalition and the center-right opposition. Opposition lawmakers are obstructing the speeches of ruling coalition MPs, blowing loudly with whistles and trumpets.

The protesters Thursday sang a national anthem and chanted “Never North, always Macedonia!” also calling into question the deal that North Macedonia reached with Greece in July 2018, ending a decades-old dispute over the country’s name and helping lift Greece’s objections to North Macedonia’s entering the EU and NATO.

Police said five people were detained for throwing “solid objects” at the parliament building.

Macron has stressed that the proposal doesn’t question the official existence of a Macedonian language, but he noted that, like all deals, it “rests on compromises and on a balance.”

North Macedonia has been a candidate for EU membership for 17 years. The country received the green light to begin accession talks in 2020, but no date for the start of the negotiations has been set.

Bulgaria has used its power as an EU member to block North Macedonia’s membership.

In Bulgaria, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov’s centrist government was toppled in a no-confidence vote on June 22 when allies described Petkov’s willingness to lift the veto of North Macedonia as a “national betrayal.”

Parliamentary debate is North Macedonia expected to last two days at least before the vote on the French proposal. But while the ruling coalition, which has a bare majority in parliament of 61 seats out of 120, can adopt it, it faces a major hurdle with the revision of the constitution to officially recognize a Bulgarian minority. This requires a two-thirds majority, or 80 votes.

The VMRO-DPMNE coalition and a small leftist party, with 46 seats between them, say they will never agree to change the constitution.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
×