Kos after meeting Sali: North Macedonia must amend its Constitution, Brussels also discussed SEPA and roaming

Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos met Deputy Prime Minister and European Affairs Minister Bekim Sali in Brussels on October 23. According to the Bulgarian news agency BTA, citing Macedonian media, Kos said North Macedonia “must take the step” of amending its Constitution to continue European integration without further political decisions.

Kos described this as an obligation and urged the government to meet it in the interest of its citizens. She added that the accession treaties of Montenegro and Albania will be signed soon and that this is a good moment for North Macedonia to move forward too, but that it is up to the country's politicians to meet expectations.

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Background: under the 2022 European compromise, North Macedonia committed to include the Bulgarians among the constituent peoples in the Constitution, which is a condition for opening negotiations. Amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The government of Hristijan Mickoski has so far said publicly that it is delivering the Reform Agenda and expects it to be recognized, as he also said at the Berlin Process summit on October 22.

The Macedonian Ministry of European Affairs does not mention constitutional amendments in its release on the meeting. According to that release, Sali welcomed the Commission's communication “Preparing for a Wider Union” and asked for a more predictable enlargement process based on merit and measurable results. He said integration must bring real benefits for citizens, the economy and businesses.

Specifically, they discussed North Macedonia's participation in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), a possible extension of the “Roam Like at Home” model and cooperation on digital transformation. Also on the agenda were the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, reforms in the rule of law, public administration, digitalization and energy, and the EU budget for 2028–2034, which Sali said should give candidates stable and predictable support. Sali is on a three-day visit to Brussels.

What looks different? The two sides describe the same meeting with different emphases: Brussels sends the message of a constitutional step, Skopje the message of gradual integration and benefits. These do not have to exclude each other, but they show different priorities.

What is not known? It is not known whether Kos set a deadline for the constitutional amendments, or whether a concrete proposal for them exists in Parliament. It is also not known when SEPA and roaming could apply, and under what conditions. We do not report Kos's interview for Macedonian media mentioned in the reports because its content was not published in the sources we checked.

What does it mean? Even with the benefits of gradual integration, the key question for negotiations remains the same as a year ago: a constitutional amendment with a two-thirds majority, which requires agreement between governing and opposition parties.

MKNews Hub · Macedonia · October 24, 2026