A day after the shockingly honest interview given by French Ambassador Christian Thimonier, the newly appointed Dutch Ambassador to Macedonia Dirk Jan Kop also didn’t mince his words when describing his host country.

Kop compared Macedonia to a sinking ship and urged for urgent reforms to “plug the holes”, especially in the judiciary.

At an event organized by by Transparency International – Macedonia, Ambassador Kop said that laws were being put in place with room allowing their abuse by those in power, which needs to be rectified.

France and the Netherlands were the most outspoken opponents of the further EU enlargement toward the Balkans, and eventually France blocked the opening of accession talks with Macedonia and Albania. The two countries were particularly unwilling to continue to paint a rosy picture following the major corruption scandals tied with the Zaev regime, which prompted loud criticism of Ambassador Thimonier by Zaev supporters in the public.