The criteria for North Macedonia's EU membership are very clear. I do not expect any change in the Negotiating Framework. I do not think that Member States want to revise the conditions.
This is what Olivér Várhelyi, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood, said in an exclusive interview with BGNES.
In recent months, a number of Macedonian politicians have argued that there could be a change in the Negotiating Framework for Skopje.
Asked whether there is any possibility of changing the conditions that North Macedonia has to fulfil, the Commissioner replied:
"I think that criteria have been very clear since 2022, when the Negotiating Framework was adopted. In it, all criteria need to be met and therefore I do not expect any change. I do not think that Member States will want to revisit any of the conditions. It is clear what would need to be met."
"I hope that right after the elections the new government in North Macedonia will quickly pick up work and we will move on with the fulfilment of the criteria," he added.
Asked by BGNES whether Belgrade's geopolitical project "Serbian World" has a place in the European Union, the commissioner said:
"The criteria for Serbia is also very clear. Good-neighbourly relations are part of the EU path for each and every single candidate country".
"It is also clear that Serbia is making progress on its EU path. If you look at Cluster 3, it is ready for opening. It is also clear that alignment with the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy on Russian aggression against Ukraine became an even more important topic for the candidate states. So now the member states are looking at the level of compliance even closer," Olivér Várhelyi emphasized. /BGNES
