MACEDONIAN EU PERSPECTIVE: WINDOW OF CHALLENGE OR OPPORTUNITY

Abstract

The paper analyses the Macedonian approach towards the EU integration process and the latest updates on EU enlargement. Namely, after a decade of positive recommendations by the European Commission for opening accession negotiations, the Macedonian EU perspective was encouraged by the Council that has finally decided to launch them in March 2020. During this period, for more than ten years, Macedonian authorities faced the challenge of maintaining a level of interest in the European prospects of the country without receiving many positive signals that the integration will happen in a reasonable timeframe. Still, Macedonian political reality is more than complex: Prespa Agreement was expected to accelerate the development of relations with the Union after the name dispute with Greece has been closed, but new challenges have been imposed for the country’s European future.