Skopje, 11 January 2024 (MIA) - The blockade of our EU path is the main reason for the inability to reach European rule of law standards, said Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani on Thursday regarding yesterday's statement of Dutch Ambassador Dirk Jan Kop during a meeting with DUI leader Ali Ahmeti that North Macedonia's commitment to EU membership is threatened by the steady decline of the rule of law in the country.

"This has been a consistent position by the Embassy of the Netherlands, repeated in many interviews in the course of last year. DUI is probably one of those stakeholders that talk about the fight against corruption the most, and of course support will be sought from DUI. In my discussions with the Dutch Ambassador, we have come to see two essential conceptual differences. He thinks that we can reach a European rule of law standard even without EU accession negotiations. Some perceive this as a compliment but others as easing the enlargement pressure on the part of the EU. Some might say, 'well, the Netherlands is known for its lack of enlargement enthusiasm'," FM Osmani told reporters.

According to him, the European rule of law standard cannot be reached without EU accession negotiations and "on our own, we can reach some kind of Balkan rule of law standard".

"I declare that we cannot reach a European rule of law standard without the EU talks and these two processes are intertwined. Blocking our EU path is the main reason for the inability to reach this European standard. Therefore, the question here is the chicken or egg dilemma: the fact that we cannot reach the European standard is because we are blocked, or the fact that we cannot reach the European standard is the reason for our standstill on the EU path. I believe there are many gray zones here. There is also a difference here - the position over our political influence on the judiciary. We believe there is certain influence of oligarchy in critical aspects of the state system that are much more dangerous than any political influence," says Osmani.

In the Facebook post about the meeting, the Embassy of the Netherlands highlighted its position on the political influence on Supreme Court President, Besa Ademi.

"Also, undue political influence on the position of the President of the Supreme Court, which is a judicial matter, is unacceptable and will elicit a strong reaction from the Netherlands," read the post.

Photo: MIA