EU preparing new enlargement roadmaps for four countries — North Macedonia not among them; Mickoski: I have no such information

The European Union is preparing dedicated roadmaps for four candidate countries considered the most advanced in the enlargement process, while North Macedonia is not among them, the Politico portal reports, citing two senior European Commission officials involved in drafting the proposals. The news was reported in North Macedonia by 48chasa.mk.

According to the report, the new approach would focus on Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine, which would receive a clearer framework with concrete steps toward membership. The roadmaps would specify the reforms each country must implement and indicative deadlines for closing negotiation clusters.

A European Commission spokesperson confirmed that the documents aim to offer a clearer path toward concluding membership negotiations — without implying automatic membership.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said he has no information that North Macedonia would be left out of Brussels’ new plans to accelerate enlargement. “I have no such information. Ask Politico where it got this information,” Mickoski said, calling such a development illogical in light of the assessments so far of the country’s reform process.

The question of North Macedonia’s place in the future enlargement model resurfaces ahead of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to Skopje. North Macedonia formally has its membership negotiations open, but the process remains blocked ahead of the opening of clusters due to the constitutional-amendments condition; the government seeks guarantees that including Bulgarians in the Constitution will not be followed by new bilateral blockades, and Mickoski has repeatedly argued the amendments should take delayed effect.

European institutions, for their part, continue to confirm the country’s European perspective while also demanding progress on the rule of law, judicial independence and the fight against corruption.