Hristijan Mickoski, Prime Minister of North Macedonia, commented on the challenges of EU accession, stating that the process has been “Balkanized” rather than “Europeanized.” He emphasized the need to resolve internal issues while cooperating with European partners, highlighting that the current bilateral disputes between member states undermine the accession process. He criticized the trend of using bilateral disagreements as obstacles, pointing to examples such as Croatia and Slovenia, and the longstanding disputes between Greece and North Macedonia. Mickoski argued that this approach has transformed the EU accession process into a regional issue rather than a unifying European effort.