Roundup: European integration remains tough key priority for Macedonia

European integration remains a key priority for Macedonia and the country will strongly focus on necessary reforms, Macedonian Prime Minister Emil Dimitriev said Wednesday.

The European Commission on Wednesday published its 2016 Enlargement Package, covering the Western Balkans and Turkey. It contains reports on the progress achieved by the candidate countries and the potential candidates including Macedonia.

"I hope that by performing the last step of the agreement to end the political crisis through the coming elections, we will create necessary preconditions to address the reform priorities and return to the EU agenda," Dimitriev said.

EU ambassador in Skopje Samuil Zhbogar said he hoped the elections scheduled for Dec. 11 will initiate a new political process that will bring back focus on the EU integration process in Macedonia.

"Corruption remains prevalent in many areas and it continues to be a serious problem for the country. However, no progress has been made on last year's recommendations. The capacity to efficiently tackle corruption continues to be undermined by political interference in relevant bodies," Zhbogar said.

For an eighth year in a row, the EU Commission recommends to the EU Council to open accession negotiations with Macedonia. As a result of the deep political crisis, for second year the recommendation is conditioned -- the country has to engage in implementing urgent reform priorities in order to maintain the positive evaluation.

Macedonian authorities point out that the delay on the road to the EU has weakened the motivation of the country to focus on the necessary reforms. Additionally, the prolonged status quo state of the integration process is one of the main reasons for the constant political crisis that Macedonia falls into, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov believes.

"Any further stalemate in the process will severely influence the dynamics of the reforms, the level of the political culture in the country as well as the readiness for dialogue and compromises. I believe that the Union will correct its unjust approach towards Macedonia," Ivanov said upon receiving the report.

Analysts in Skopje pointed out the motivation to engage in EU-mandated reforms may decrease with more delays.

"All these reports and recommendations that we receive every year in reality reflect the EU's policy towards Macedonia which has not been fair from the beginning," retired diplomat Risto Nikovski told Xinhua.

Macedonia is not only a victim of this reluctance. There are many internal factors that influence the country's stalemate on the road to the EU, the director of the European Policy Institute in Skopje Malinka Ristevska-Jordanova said.

"It is true that the significance of the EU's reports on Macedonia is decreasing every year. Why? First of all, there have been too many reports published by now with no concrete result from them. Secondly, the Union itself does not have the influence it used to in this country," she added.

The experts believe returning to the EU agenda after the elections will be no easy task for Macedonia. Endit