Von der Leyen in Skopje: 'Next Week the EU Takes the First Step' — What That Actually Means
The European Commission president told President Siljanovska-Davkova that next week Brussels will take the first step to unblock the process and come to Skopje with a roadmap, advising a bilateral meeting with Bulgaria.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in a conversation with North Macedonian President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova in Skopje, said that next week the EU will take a "first step" to unblock the accession process and will come to Skopje with a concrete roadmap. Von der Leyen advised Prime Minister Christijan Mickoski's government to seek a bilateral meeting with Bulgaria as a way to move the dispute off dead center.
Following the talks, Mickoski announced that a diplomatic note would be sent to Sofia — the first formal step toward restoring direct contact between the two governments since negotiations over constitutional amendments have remained blocked for an extended period. Details of what the roadmap will contain — whether a concrete timetable for opening chapters or merely a procedural framework for dialogue — remained unclear from the statements made in Skopje.
The phrase "first step" carries very different weight depending on whether it refers to actual movement in negotiations or simply restored communication between the parties. Since the proposal for a bilateral meeting comes directly from Brussels rather than as a Macedonian or Bulgarian initiative, whether that meeting actually happens in the coming weeks will be the first concrete test of whether the announcement has real substance.
MKNews Hub · Macedonia · October 3, 2026
