Macedonia Vows to Resume EU Path Now That ‘Strongman’ Is Out
- Zoran Zaev’s government pledges to resume reforms urged by EU
- Foreign minister dismisses narrative of rising ethnic tension
Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev in Skopje.
Photographer: ROBERT ATANASOVSKI/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Republic of Macedonia’s new government will jump-start the stalled drive to join the European Union by overhauling courts and shoring up the rule of law, the country’s foreign minister said.
A member of the Social Democratic Union-led cabinet that took power last week, ending a two-year political crisis, Nikola Dimitrov said the government would try to repair ties after the EU criticized the Balkan state for a weak judiciary and democratic backsliding under former Premier Nikola Gruevski. Dimitrov said the new prime minister, Zoran Zaev, would reverse what the ruling party has denounced as “authoritarian” practices that led the country away from its path of integration with the EU and NATO.