Mucunski: We have our obligations, but the EU also needs to deliver to maintain credibility in our region

Brussels, June 26, 2024 (MIA) – The reform agenda, the expectations that the EU has from our country, the reforms that need to be delivered, and the implementation of the Western Balkans Growth Plan were the main topics of today’s meetings between Foreign and Foreign Trade Minister Timcho Mucunski in Brussels with representatives of the institutions of the European Union.

As reported by MIA’s correspondent from Brussels, Mucunski met with the head of the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), Gert Jan Koopman, as well as with MEPs David McAllister, Tineke Strik, and Ilhan Kyuchyuk. 

– I thanked the members of the European Parliament for the support they provided for the Growth Plan, which was recently adopted and which will be very important for the entire region. The key issues we raised are the expectations they have from the country, but also the expectations we have from the EU, which also needs to deliver to maintain its credibility in our region, Mucunski pointed out after the meetings in Brussels. 

Regarding the obligations that our country needs to fulfill, the EU representatives pointed out reforms in the area of the rule of law and public administration, as well as the fight against high corruption.  

– There are also some issues within the domain of political expectations, where we presented the Government’s positions, which are incorporated in the government program and were part of the positions of the political parties that received the majority of the citizens in the last elections, said Mucunski. 

At the meeting in the European Commission with the Director-General of NEAR, Koopman, they discussed the reforms that the EU expects our country to implement. 

– We spent a large part of the meeting talking about the Growth Plan, which is really a serious focus here in Brussels, and it was in a positive atmosphere. I want to believe that this atmosphere will continue in the future, said the Minister of Foreign and Foreign Trade. 

Regarding when our country can expect the first tranche of financial funds provided by the Western Balkans Growth Plan, Mucunski stated that he could not prejudge when that will happen. 

– However, the final decision on that will be made in Brussels. The framework for the Reform Agenda has been set. These days, I am in active communication primarily with the Prime Minister Mickoski, but we are also jointly communicating with some of the key ministers who have responsibilities in the area of the Reform Agenda and what we need to accept not only as reforms but also as deadlines related to those reforms. With the Prime Minister, we believe that this is one of the first concrete steps that the Government will be able to provide in the process of European integration, but let’s see in the next few days, I would say even next week, how this process will develop. I want to expect that it will develop positively and there is some announcement for the fastest possible dynamics of the first tranche, but still, it is not a decision of the Western Balkan countries, it is a decision that will be made here in Brussels, added Mucunski. 

He emphasized that with this his first working visit abroad after assuming office, the dialogue of the new Government with the representatives in Brussels is opened, announcing that in the next period Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski will also officially visit the Belgian capital. (June 26)