Strasbourg, 30 January 2026 (PACE/MIA) - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg, proposed Thursday “to close the post-monitoring dialogue with North Macedonia”.

By adopting a resolution, based on the report by Sibel Arslan (Switzerland, SOC) and Joseph O'Reilly (Ireland, EPP/CD), PACE welcomed the measures taken by the authorities to reform the judiciary and the prosecution services, as well as the government’s work on draft laws on the Judicial Council, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Council of Public Prosecutors. It called on the authorities to adopt the draft legislation as soon as possible, taking into account the recommendations of the Venice Commission, and to implement the GRECO's recommendation to remove the Minister of Justice from the Judicial Council’s composition.

The adopted text also highlights the swift establishment of the coalition government after the May 2024 parliamentary elections, as well as “its demonstrated political will and commitment to fully honour its commitments and obligations” by its continued co-operation with Council of Europe bodies including the Venice Commission. It called on the authorities to reform the Electoral Code by implementing the outstanding recommendations of the Venice Commission and the OSCE's ODIHR.

PACE also welcomed the measures undertaken to combat corruption, and the country's commitment to addressing the human rights issues faced by the Roma community, even though problems remain, such as reforming the 'balancer' mechanism concerning access to employment in the public sector, applying the Law on the Use of Official Languages and respect of the rights of persons belonging to the Bulgarian ethnic minority.

Furthermore, PACE remains concerned about “the low level of perceived judicial independence and the numerous allegations of the politicisation of the judiciary”, as well as the judiciary's outdated infrastructure and its insufficient human and financial resources. It is also concerned about numerous allegations of widespread corruption throughout the public sector and has called on the authorities to fully implement the outstanding GRECO's recommendations.

Noting that more over 30 judgments of the European Court of Human Rights concerning North Macedonia are still to be implemented, PACE called on the authorities to implement them fully and swiftly.

Finally, concerned about allegations of ill-treatment of persons in detention and the worrying situation in prisons, PACE urged the authorities “to implement the CPT’s outstanding recommendations without delay, in co-operation with the Council of Europe Development Bank”.

PACE proposed to follow the developments in the country in the framework of its periodic reviews, evaluating progress on non-resolved issues such as “the reform of the electoral framework, the judiciary and the prosecution services, combatting corruption, the pursuance of inclusive policies aimed at securing the rights of minorities and poor conditions in detention centres”.

North Macedonia joined the Council of Europe in 1995. Until 2000, it was subject to the full monitoring procedure. By means of Resolution 1213 (2000), the Parliamentary Assembly decided to close the full monitoring procedure and engage in a post-monitoring dialogue. Since 2000, the progress in addressing the outstanding concerns has been systematically assessed by PACE, in particular in Resolution 1949 (2013) and Resolution 2304 (2019).

MIA file photo