The failure to open accession talks with the European Union is due to the numerous defects noted in the European Commission progress report on Macedonia, said VMRO-DPMNE spokesman Naum Stoilkovski, who added that “Macedonia lost another year because of Zoran Zaev”.

Zaev did not deliver what the citizens and Brussels asked him to. He didn’t deliver jobs, he didn’t deliver reforms, and wasted a full year on his lies, political marketing, nepotism, corruption, crime and increasing the debt, Stoilkovski said during a press conference.

The European Council which is set to reject the proposal to open accession talks, he said, requires judicial reforms, tangible fight against crime and corruption – including those in the Government, reform of the security services and of the public administration.

There were no judicial reforms, there is no track record in the fight against crime and corruption and there is no reform in the public administration. Zaev himself led the judicial reforms body and it met for a full six times. Even the author of the reform proposals Reihard Priebe was left speechless when asked if he sees reforms in Macedonia, Stoilkovski said.

Zaev was promising the opening of accession talks in June, but with the opposition in capital EU countries such as France and the Netherlands growing, it is now likely that the request will be rejected.