Hungary's Orbán says EU hits North Macedonia's 'national pride' by delaying accession bid

SKOPJE, North Macedonia — Hungary's right-wing prime minister on Friday accused European Union officials of denting North Macedonia's “national pride” by further delaying the country's troubled bid to join the bloc.

During a visit to North Macedonia, Viktor Orbán also offered to mediate with EU member Bulgaria, whose dispute with Skopje over Balkan history and heritage triggered the new delay.

"We are here to offer the best solutions,” he said, during a news conference with North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski in the lakeside resort of Ohrid.

Orbán’s comments followed reports that EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Wednesday decided to push ahead with neighboring Albania’s EU accession process, independently of North Macedonia’s. Up to now, the two had been moving together. Any such decision would require approval at a higher EU level.

Orbán, a populist who has governed EU member Hungary since 2010, said it would be “a big mistake” to separate the two bids.

"What is being served (by EU) is a blow to the national pride of North Macedonia,” Orbán said.

The EU started membership talks with the Albania and North Macedonia in 2022 as the war in Ukraine forced a rethink of the bloc’s enlargement process.

But the dispute with Bulgaria delayed North Macedonia’s bid. To break the impasse, the previous center-left government in Skopje agreed to insert in North Macedonia’s constitution a reference to a Bulgarian ethnic minority.

However, it lacked the parliamentary majority to do that, and Mickoski’s new conservative government says it will only amend the constitution if Bulgaria first approves North Macedonia’s EU membership.

Mickoski has accused the EU of trying to “dictate” what his country should do.

“We must not lose hope," he said Friday. “I regret that this is happening and that we will be once again a victim of bilateral issues.”

The Hungarian leader, with a dozen Cabinet ministers, started a two-day visit to North Macedonia on Thursday. Talks included economic cooperation and illegal migration.

At Friday's news conference, Orbán also restated his endorsement of Donald Trump for the U.S. presidency.

“If we have a strong president in the United States then we will have peace, if we have a weak president then we will have war," he said.