North Macedonia's Support For EU Accession Drops By 25% - President

North Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski said on Wednesday that popular support for EU accession in his country had dropped by 25% within the last 18 months.

ST.PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2022) North Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski said on Wednesday that popular support for EU accession in his country had dropped by 25% within the last 18 months.

"I have to tell you that EU enthusiasm is not there. In the last 18 months only, the support for EU integration in my country dropped by 25% and now we are in the range of 60-62%. Just a few years ago we were in the range of 90%," Pendarovski said in opening remarks at the EU-Western Balkans Summit hosted by the Friends of Europe Foundation in Brussels.

The North Macedonian leader noted that it was up to the EU's responsible political leadership to show to the people in the Balkans that the union's membership was the best prospect for the country's prosperity.

North Macedonia has been a candidate for joining the bloc since 2005. The country is one of the seven EU candidate countries, along with Albania, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

In 2020, North Macedonia joined NATO after being forced to change its official name to get Greece to withdraw its veto on entering the EU and the military alliance.