Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov acknowledged that even after being forced to change its name, Macedonia will have difficulty joining the European Union.

We have missed a few European trains, and while we were in the waiting room, the region and the EU changed, including how they do accession. The appetite (for accession) is gone” and we are no longer in the day of the uniting Europe, Dimitrov said during his remarks before the US Atlantic Council in Washington D.C.

Dimitrov was referring to the new, much stricter conditions for EU membership put in place following the first wave of Balkan enlargement. According to him, the EU is not open to countries who want to “double bluff” in their reforms in the judiciary and the rule of law areas.

Due to his departure for Brussels, where Dimitrov is supposed to sign the protocol for NATO accession, the ACUS did not allow many questions, especially not from critical commentators. Meto Koloski from the United Macedonian Diaspora said that he was not allowed to ask questions, and posted them online instead – including questions about the violation of Macedonia’s sovereignty and national identity with the pressure to change its name.