European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos announced that she will visit Macedonia soon to “give encouragement to the Government for its strong performance in the reform agenda”. In a MIA interview, Kos tells Macedonia that we can’t expect guarantees from the European Union, as the country faces nationalist demands from Bulgaria.

Macedonia clearly showed that it can deliver results when there is political will for it. We see this clearly in its strong performance in the reform agenda. I will come to Skopje to encourage the Government to do the same in the accession talks. Now we have an opportunity that comes once in a generation to complete the enlargement. This comes with clear choices – those who mee the demands advance. We see this most clearly in Montenegro and Albania. Those who do not meet their obligations – fall behind. At times of acceleration, staying behind in reality means going backwards, said Kos.

Regarding the Bulgarian demands and the Macedonian request for guarantees that these will be the last nationalist demands, Kos said that “no candidate country has received guarantees that there will be no new disputes that will arise in the accession talks, this is the way the EU enlargement works and it is important to accept this reality”. The Slovenian representative in the European Commission also said that this fall the EU will present new forms of bringing the candidate countries closer to the EU ahead of their formal accession.