Politics of North Macedonia

Creating an integrated border crossing between Serbia and North Macedonia is a special day, not only for the relations between these two countries, but for the beginning of a possible new era for regional cooperation in the western Balkans, stated Ana Brnabi.

"This is political decision in our eyes, that interferes directly with the rule of law", Brnabic stated on a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev.

North Macedonia needs to reform its judiciary to ensure it can handle high-level crime and corruption cases before the European Union can set a date to start accession talks, top EU official Johannes Hahn said on Thursday.

Katica Janeva, head of the Special Prosecution in North Macedonia, SJO, the body that has spearheaded the fight against high-level crime in the country, submitted her irrevocable resignation on Monday.

In geopolitical terms, unlike many other Balkan countries, especially Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia did not see North Macedonia as part of its immediate strategic interests in the region.

Parliament in North Macedonia approved a reshuffle of five ministers on Thursday night, which came after the ruling coalition, headed by Zoran Zaev's Social Democrats, received a wake-up call in recent presidential elections. In the vote, 65 of 120 MPs backed the reshuffle with 25 opposition MPs voting against.

The Czech prime minister has urged the European Union to start accession talks with North Macedonia, saying failure to do so would send the wrong message to would-be members of the bloc.
Andrej Babish said EU leaders should "keep their word" in starting negotiations with the small Balkan country, which changed its name under a deal to normalize relations with neighboring Greece.

North Macedonia's prime minister says he could call early elections if his country fails to get a date for the start of European Union accession talks, addressing domestic frustration with the slow pace of progress in joining the bloc.

Zoran Zaev said Thursday that several options, including early elections, were possible if North Macedonia fails to get a firm date this summer.

On the one hand, the Commission and Germany support the opening of the accession talks, while on the other France is opposed. At the same time, Brussels, Berlin, and Paris all have their own strategies for the EU perspective of the Western Balkans, but with different end goals or lack thereof.

North Macedonia's Prime Minister and leader of its ruling Social Democratic Party, SDSM, Zoran Zaev, on Sunday said a promised "clean-up" launched after lower than expected results in recent presidential polls would not go without a mass cull of party officials - and will soon include ministers.