On Monday evening 30 May, Mr. Nikola  Poposki, the Foreign Minister of Macedonia, visited the Clingendael Institute to share Macedonia’s views on EU accession. The evening was moderated by Senior Visiting Fellow  Jan-Marinus Wiersma, and was attended by more than six ambassadors posted in The Hague, assorted embassy staff, and a diverse group of other interested listeners.

Keynote address by Mr. Poposki

In his opening speech Mr. Nikola  Poposki outlined the steps his country has taken over the past twenty years to align with the European acquis in preparation for membership negotiations. The minister also addressed the difficulties Macedonia is facing today, both in in terms of the current political climate in a number of EU member states, as well as internally. He also underlined the waning trust of the Macedonian citizenry in the EU institutions, prompted by the protracted delays in opening accession negotiations.

Prior to the Clingendael event, Mr. Poposki met with his Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders. The Netherlands currently holds the EU Presidency in the Council, making it an important point of contact for any country working towards EU accession.

Clingendael Academy & Macedonia

From the end of June, Clingendael Academy will once again host a group of diplomats from the Balkan region for a four week training focussing on, among other topics, EU-accession negotiations, the rule of law and fundamental rights, and diplomatic skills. In addition to two Macedonian junior diplomats, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey will also be represented in this training. Clingendael has been training participants from these countries since the beginning of the 1990s, and is proud to have more than 670 alumni from these seven countries alone. If you have any questions about this upcoming training program, please contact Mr. Adriaan Zondag or Mr. Christiaan Nelisse, Training and Research Fellows at Clingendael Academy.