North Macedonia has yet to adopt constitutional amendments to include Bulgarians in its Constitution – a commitment it made under the European Council’s conclusions in July 2022 – according to the European Commission’s latest progress report on EU enlargement.
The draft report, seen by Radio Free Europe, notes that the government in Skopje has made only limited progress in strengthening the rule of law and fighting corruption, and that reforms in the judiciary and public administration remain slow.
“North Macedonia needs to step up efforts to uphold the rule of law, particularly by protecting judicial independence and integrity and intensifying the fight against corruption,” the document says.
In the broader regional context, the Commission states that Montenegro remains the most advanced of the Western Balkan countries in EU accession, having opened all 33 negotiating chapters and provisionally closed seven. Serbia, by contrast, has slowed its reform pace, particularly in aligning with the EU’s foreign policy and maintaining its close ties with Russia.
For Bosnia and Herzegovina, the report points to deepening political divisions and unconstitutional laws adopted in the Republika Srpska entity as major obstacles to progress. Meanwhile, Kosovo, which does not yet hold official EU candidate status, is recognized for advancing alignment with EU foreign policy.
“Corruption remains a major challenge that enlargement countries must tackle as a priority,” the European Commission warns, also highlighting risks of “state capture” in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The report stresses that EU enlargement is moving faster than at any time in the past 15 years, as the bloc plans to allocate €6 billion in 2024 through a new “Growth Plan” for the Western Balkans to accelerate economic development and integration.