Thewesternbalkans.
According to different media, including on the Austrian government internet channel on 21 of April 2026, a delegation headed by the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski was on an official visit to Austria. In the official government delegation were included Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Aleksandar Nikoloski, Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade Timcho Mucunski, Minister of Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources Sanja Bozhinovska, and Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning Muhamet Hodzha.
During the press conference after his meeting in Vienna with the Austrian Chancellor Christian Stöger, the Prime Minister of North Macedonia declared that the process of North Macedonia’s accession to the EU has been bi-lateralised, and the country is “a victim of bullying (harassment from a position of strength) by an EU member state on the principle ‘we are in, you are out, if you want to be in you must accept our conditions, otherwise you will remain outside… These conditions have nothing to do with the Copenhagen criteria“.
“Our position is clear, that our future is in the EU. What frustrates citizens and makes our future uncertain is the process of bi-lateralisation of the negotiation process that we started 26 years ago. Unfortunately, due to bilateral issues, this process has turned into an endless story. Along the way, we changed the flag, the banknotes, we changed the constitution several times, we also changed the constitutional name (of the state); is there another country that has done this in the name of European integration? Now, a constitutional change is being requested again. We are ready to sit down with our allies, with our neighbours in this case, and discuss how to overcome this problem.
But what is more important are the guarantees that we will receive and expect within the European Council for our identity.
Second – that there will be no additional bilateral demands that someone will reopen again, and third – what we do with the Macedonian community, which unfortunately, in neighbouring Bulgaria cannot form a non-governmental organization, let alone something more, although the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has issued at least 14 judgments that in practice require our eastern neighbour to at least allow the registration of NGOs.” said Mickoski in response to a question from an Austrian journalist about what steps the government in North Macedonia is taking to start negotiations with the EU.
According to the Austrian Chancellor, EU enlargement is the strongest and most effective tool for peace security and prosperity, and the six countries of the Western Balkans are the missing pieces in the European mosaic.
“It is not only about altruism and personal interest, but also about expanding the European security network in our immediate neighbourhood. In order to achieve successful progress in the EU enlargement project, all of us must complete the necessary tasks. The solution will not come from outside, neither from Brussels nor from Vienna. It is time to leave behind our different viewpoints and take geopolitical responsibility for the good of our common Europe,” said Christian Stöcker at the press conference.
“There are moments when Europe must choose whether to react or to lead. Today we are exactly at such a moment. We live in a time of reassessment, when security is no longer a given. Under such circumstances, words carry less weight than decisions, and declarations are worth only as much as we are ready to implement them. We need a Europe that does not wait but acts, that does not hesitate but decides, that does not fear competition but creates it,” Mickoski said in his statement at the press conference.
Comments: The ‘great friend’ of the Republic of North Macedonia, Viktor Orbán, is gone, and Skopje is already looking for another patron. However, Mickoski’s tirade about changes to the flag, the name, and the country’s constitution has nothing to do with Bulgaria, to which he seeks to direct the attention of his Austrian interlocutors.
As for the role of the EU in the final passage of the Macedonian prime minister’s statement, it is entirely appropriate but misdirected.
On the other hand, the comment from the Austrian Chancellor is sufficiently vague and non-committal, which shows good prior preparation and excellent diplomatic response.
On the other hand, a government of former President Rumen Radev is coming in Bulgaria, who has already proven that he knows how to defend Bulgarian interests even on the topic of North Macedonia.
