North Macedonia's Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said on September 17 that his country's path to European Union membership should be based on merit, but argued that bilateral disputes with Bulgaria were blocking progress.

Speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington, Mickoski again rejected calls for North Macedonia to amend its constitution to recognise Bulgarians as a minority, saying there was no guarantee the change would be the final condition required for EU accession.

"We are not talking about 300,000 or 3 million ... we are talking about 3,000 citizens," Mickoski said, referring to the number of Bulgarians recorded in North Macedonia's latest census.

North Macedonia's accession talks were formally opened in 2022, but the country must amend its constitution to include Bulgarians before it can move to the next stage and begin opening negotiating chapters.

Mickoski said his government had proposed adopting the constitutional amendments immediately but delaying their entry into force until accession negotiations were completed and all EU member states had ratified the accession protocol.

He said this would provide a guarantee that no further bilateral conditions would be imposed.

Mickoski also criticised previous governments for accepting the constitutional change without securing assurances that it would be the final obstacle to EU membership.

"We have changed the flag, the Constitution, the constitutional name several times in the past, and the message has always been: Do this and this is the last," he said. "Unfortunately, we are in the same place where we were 26 years ago."

The dispute is part of a wider deterioration in relations between Skopje and Sofia, with Bulgaria's position on the constitutional amendment incorporated into the EU negotiating framework.

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos told Bulgarian television earlier on September 17 that North Macedonia must fulfil its commitment to amend its constitution if it wants to advance its EU accession process.

"Of course, the government in North Macedonia must fulfil its promise. They must amend the constitution," Kos told Bulgarian national broadcaster BNT, adding that the change had been agreed between North Macedonia and the 27 EU member states.

Mickoski, whose government has made closer ties with the United States and NATO a priority, was in Washington for talks on North Macedonia's strategic partnership with the United States, its economic prospects and its EU path. The discussion with the Atlantic Council also covered defence and security cooperation and opportunities for US investment.