President Stevo Pendarovski warned the public that joining the European Union will be difficult, as the EU is getting more and more reluctant to admit new members. In a TV interview, Pendarovski reminded how accession talks are getting more and more protracted with each new candidate country.

Objectively looking, the EU is getting more and more shut in. With each new country the process gets longer. The last country to join the EU, Croatia, negotiated for seven years. Serbia is already in its seventh year and Montenegro in its ninth year, with no end in sight. And now there is a new methodology, Pendarovski said when asked how realistic is it to expect that Macedonia will open and close 80 percent of the negotiating chapters in the next six years.

Pendarovski also predicted that Bulgaria will not use its veto power to block Macedonia from opening accession talks. With the elections now over, Bulgaria asked that Macedonia resumes its implementation of the 2017 Zaev – Borisov treaty, which calls on Macedonia to make significant concessions with its national history.