SKOPJE -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered his support for North Macedonia in its bid to join the European Union, saying the Western Balkan nation has put its “European vision before any other interests.”
Sanchez’s comments on July 31 during a visit to Skopje came a day after he voiced similar backing for Bosnia-Herzegovina to become an EU candidate during a stop in Sarajevo.
Sanchez is also visiting Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania during his regional trip.
The Spanish prime minister said during a news conference with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski that North Macedonia is in Europe, both geographically and historically.
He said the country is now one step closer to the desired goal and that it can count on Spain's support for the next steps for EU membership.
Sanchez expressed "gratitude for your broadness and responsibility, for putting the future of the country and your European vision before any other interest. You made the right choice. You unblocked the path that would bring North Macedonia to where it should be."
On July 18, the bloc's 27 member states agreed to open accession talks with North Macedonia after Skopje resolved a long dispute with its EU neighbor Bulgaria.
Bulgaria had until recently blocked any progress for accession talks because of a dispute between the countries over a long list of linguistic and historical issues.
But on July 17, the two countries signed an agreement in Sofia a day after North Macedonia’s parliament approved a French-proposed compromise to lift Bulgaria’s veto of Skopje’s EU accession bid.
Bulgaria, which has been an EU member since 2007, had insisted that North Macedonia formally recognize that its language had Bulgarian roots, acknowledge in its constitution a Bulgarian minority, and renounce what it said was “hate speech” against Bulgaria.
The compromise envisages an effort to amend North Macedonia’s 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.
Nationalists in both countries had opposed the compromise, claiming that their government had conceded too much to the other side.
Kovachevski said Sanchez’s visit is a symbol of the nearly 30-year excellent bilateral relations between the two countries, expressing gratitude for Spain's strong support for North Macedonia's EU membership.
"We are ready for the EU and are moving forward with a firm step toward full membership of the union. It is a process from which we will not give up, because our place is in the EU. We have closed a chapter and are opening a new, European one, in which we will share a European future with our friends, such as Spain," Kovachevski said.
A day earlier, Sanchez said Spain supports Bosnia-Herzegovina’s “European perspective.”
He urged the country to continue to take necessary steps to become a membership candidate.
Spain will take over the EU's rotating presidency in the second half of 2023.
Sanchez said that he has told fellow heads of EU governments of “my full support in favor or Bosnia-Herzegovina being designated a candidate country.”