Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, met yesterday in Madrid with his counterpart from North Macedonia, Timco Mucunski, to discuss, among other issues, the accession of this country to the European Union.
Spain is the first European country to visit Mucunski bilaterally since his appointment, last June, to the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
The visit takes place when three decades have passed since the beginning of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The two countries have held several high-level meetings in the past two years. Albares himself travelled to Skopje twice last year, both on a bilateral visit and to attend the OSCE ministerial meeting.
During the meeting, the two ministers reviewed the bilateral agenda, the strengthening of economic ties and the promotion of the teaching of the Spanish language and culture in North Macedonia. They also discussed the war of aggression against Ukraine and the participation of both countries in NATO, the OSCE and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) forum.
According to a press release from the Foreign Ministry, the accession of North Macedonia to the European Union has also been on the table. Spain, as Albares recalled, supports North Macedonia’s commitment to its reform agenda, and this was reflected in the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for greater collaboration in the EU accession process, signed during the Spanish minister’s bilateral visit to Skopje in 2023.
“Precisely, one of the priorities during the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council last year was to promote the Balkan accession process, and the will is to continue offering all our support,” recalled Foreign Ministry. “In fact, the enlargement of the Union will be one of the key issues in the institutional cycle that now begins with the renewal of the community institutions,” it added.
