Skopje, 18 May 2026 (MIA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski said Monday discussions are ongoing in bilateral and EU formats regarding the Entry/Exit System (EES) and solutions are sought for the summer period, noting that reports on the exemption of certain states are fake news.

"There are discussions with institutions of the European Union and member-states for certain facilitation during the summer, when border congestion is in its peak. Unfortunately, I cannot say anything about this now since nothing has been officially confirmed. Nevertheless, the region expects better conditions, in cooperation with member-states, which do not want such bottlenecks as well," FM Mucunski told a Parliament session dedicated to opposition questions.

Mucunski said he attended a meeting of EU and Western Balkans FMs last week, during which he raised the issue.

"I attended a meeting of foreign ministers within the Friends of the Western Balkans format in Bratislava and was the first minister from the region to raise the issue. I am also bilaterally discussing the matter with regional states. Minister of Interior Panche Toshkovski also discussed the issue a few weeks ago in Greece, pushing for a collective solution for the entire region. Why collective? Because reports emerged that Serbian nationals would be exempted from the EES, which is fake news," said Mucunski.

The FM added that EU regulations do not provide for individual exemptions, and secondly, such a decision cannot be implemented considering the conditions at border crossings.

He agreed with SDSM MP Sanja Lukarevska, who asked the question, that Macedonian nationals have faced significant challenges at the border crossings.

"As with the Macedonian-Greek border, people faced the same situation at the Montenegro-Croatia, Serbia-Croatia and other border crossings," said Mucunski and added that the congestion affects EU nationals as well.

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