SKOPJE -- Lawmakers in North Macedonia on July 16 backed a French proposal after three days of debate to remove a Bulgarian veto on EU membership talks for the Balkan nation.
The compromise envisages an effort to amend the Macedonian Constitution to recognize a Bulgarian minority but leaves other previous sticking points to be worked out between Skopje and Sofia. It reportedly leaves open Bulgarian recognition of the Macedonian language.
SEE ALSO: For North Macedonia, The Road To The EU Is A Bitter SlogIt passed with 68 votes in the 120-seat National Assembly after opposition lawmakers walked out following weeks of accusations by some that the deal amounts to a national cultural betrayal.
Hours later, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said the country will begin EU accession talks on July 19.
“Finally, after 17 years, we begin the accession negotiation process,” he said on Twitter. “From today onwards, we are moving forward with an accelerated step to join the European family in which our Macedonian language will be heard very soon and officially."
Just four years after Macedonians agreed to a name change to mollify neighbor Greece and two years after Bulgaria invoked its veto on EU talks, the compromise could usher in rapid progress to launch negotiations within a formal framework for Macedonian membership to the bloc.
The European Union's French Presidency last month laid out mutual concessions to resolve differences over shared national language and culture between Macedonians and Bulgarians.
Sofia has been vetoing a framework for North Macedonia's accession for the past two years but has endorsed the French deal.
Thousands of Macedonians protested in Skopje this week, and police were deployed to seal off the parliament from protesters during the first two days of debate.
Opposition deputies inside the parliament chamber on July 14 blew horns as Kovachevski urged them to accept an imperfect deal that would lead to "ultimately a better future."
During the final day of debate and passage, about 100 protesters were outside the parliament clamoring for rejection of the French proposal.
On Twitter, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated North Macedonia on the vote and said it "now paves the way for opening the accession negotiations rapidly."
A supporter of VMRO-DPMNE, North Macedonia's biggest opposition party, throws an egg on the parliament building during a rally in Skopje on July 14.
"It was a historic opportunity. And you seized it. A big step on your path towards a European future. Your future," she wrote.
The United States said it welcomed the decision by North Macedonia’s parliament.
“We recognize the difficult tradeoffs considered in this compromise, which acknowledges and respects North Macedonia’s cultural identity and the Macedonian language,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“This decision comes at a critical moment for North Macedonia, the Western Balkans, and Europe. A European Union that includes all of the Western Balkans, including Albania and North Macedonia, will be stronger and more prosperous. Now is the time to build momentum and work on next steps.”
North Macedonia has been a candidate for EU membership for 17 years, but its approval was first blocked by Greece over a name dispute resolved in 2018 and now by Bulgaria, both members of the bloc.
Opponents of the compromise fear it will inflict far-reaching damage on national identity and culture and fails to guard against future Bulgarian objections on the path to EU membership anyway.
"With this agreement, Macedonia will be a hostage to Bulgaria as it would exercise a veto based on whatever condition we fail to fulfill [in EU accession process]," Petar Risteski, an opposition VMRO-DPMNE lawmaker warned, according to Reuters. "Therefore have courage and take the side of the truth, justice, and the Macedonian people."
Rock-throwing and other unrest erupted after reports that Paris floated the compromise late last month.
The Bulgarian-Macedonian dispute has underscored regional resentments and risks a further erosion of Balkan faith in the European Union.
Von der Leyen had traveled to Skopje to urge Macedonia's parliament to green light the deal before debate began on July 14, saying, “We want you in the EU."
The Bulgarian parliament lifted its veto last month in anticipation of approval in Skopje, also causing unrest in that country and contributing to a no-confidence vote that toppled Kiril Petkov's government.
Blinken and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said recently that furthering North Macedonia's and Albania's progress toward EU membership are especially important to the continent in the context of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.