EC Report: North Macedonia Is Fully Aligned With the EU on Foreign Policy and Elected to UN ECOSOC for the First Time for 2027–2029
Chapter 31 is rated as good progress. What the report says on sanctions, Ukraine and the UN, and what remains the condition for negotiations.
On November 4 the European Commission published its 2026 report on North Macedonia, covering the period from September 1, 2025 to September 1, 2026. This is the first text in a series in which we look at one part of the report in detail. Today it is foreign and security policy, where, according to the report, chapter 31 is rated as good progress.
Full alignment. The country is fully aligned with EU statements and with Council sanctions decisions, including towards Russia. The Commission assesses this as a strong signal of strategic choice. For a candidate country, alignment with EU foreign policy is a measure of how much it truly connects with the Union, not only how much it declares it.
Security and defence. In April 2026 the second session of the EU–North Macedonia Security and Defence Dialogue was held in Brussels. The report notes that the country has increased its defence readiness.
Ukraine. According to the report, North Macedonia has provided significant humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine. In July 2026 it officially joined the “Coalition of the Willing”, the group of countries supporting Ukraine.
First time in ECOSOC. In June 2026 the country was elected to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the 2027–2029 term, and according to the report this is a first in its history. ECOSOC is one of the main UN bodies and deals with economic and social issues. North Macedonia is already a member of the UN Human Rights Council for 2025–2027, so it will hold two significant seats on the international stage at the same time.
What is met and what remains. Most of last year’s recommendations are met. The report asks to close the delay between alignment with sanctions and their entry into force, and to draw up a strategy against hybrid threats. These are technical tasks, not political obstacles.
How it fits the picture. Foreign policy is one of the areas rated good progress, together with digitalisation and science and research. For citizens this means that in the areas that depend on it, the state meets EU requirements on its own. That is an argument in the country’s favour when the question is whether it deserves the next step.
Where the obstacle is. The positive rating does not change the formal condition. According to the EU Council conclusions from 2022, further negotiations depend on constitutional changes, and the report notes that there is no progress in that field. To keep the picture accurate, the report does not limit the obstacle to constitutional changes alone: for corruption and media freedom it also finds no progress.
Conclusion. There is progress in foreign policy and it is officially recognised by the Commission, while the key to moving negotiations forward remains in the constitutional changes. In the coming days we will look at the other areas in which the report notes good or some progress.
MKNews Hub · Macedonia · November 5, 2026
