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Nikolovski for MIA: We have long deserved to start the membership negotiations, the EU should set a clear vision for North Macedonia

by AI | 08.Dec 2025 | Europe in brief AI

There must be certainty in the process and we must know when we will start negotiating and when we will finish the negotiations, of course if we implement the reforms requested by the EU, emphasized Nikoloski.

Interview with the Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski in an interview for MIA. Photo: MIA

Brussels – North Macedonia has long had, and deserved, to start the negotiations for EU membership, and therefore the Union should put pressure on those who are blocking the enlargement process in order for it to continue, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski in an interview for MIA in Brussels, where he took part in the “EU-Western Balkans Summit” organized by the think tank Friends of Europe.

Nikoloski emphasized that at the Summit certain European leaders and diplomats “quite bravely” admitted that the enlargement process is above all political, and only after that comes the fulfillment of reforms, criteria or merits.

– And if we already know that the process is political, then political decisions are needed, and then it is necessary for the largest EU member states to set out a clear vision for the region, a clear vision for Macedonia as well, said Nikoloski.

Regarding the constitutional amendments, Nikoloski says that the key question is whether their adoption is the last condition or whether in a few years we will again be given a veto.

– There must be certainty in the process and we must know when we will start negotiating and when we will finish the negotiations, of course if we implement the reforms requested by the EU, Nikoloski stressed.

In the interview, the Deputy Prime Minister announces that the construction of the high-speed railway to Greece will begin next summer, and from 2031 he expects the railway connection with Bulgaria to become operational. According to him, around New Year a new section of the Ohrid-Kicevo highway will be put into use, and very soon we will also have a complete highway solution to Prilep and to Bitola.

In the interview, Nikoloski also announces the establishment of new air routes from Ohrid and Skopje, as well as the introduction of a system for electronic completion of all documents for cross-border truck transport. (5 December 2025)