Vienna Calling: Austria’s Offer to Unlock North Macedonia’s EU Bid
Ivan Nikolovski: Vienna Calling: Austria’s Offer to Unlock North Macedonia’s EU Bid – And what to do with it? AIES Comment 2025/7.
28.10.2025
Austria has put itself forward as a mediator in the deadlock between Bulgaria and North Macedonia that continues to stall Skopje’s EU accession. This AIES comment argues that Austria, through joint efforts with other members of the Berlin Process, can leverage lessons from its own experience with reconciliation, the EU’s politics of the past, and European textbook commissions to help both sides overcome entrenched disputes. By supporting the Joint Bulgaria-North Macedonia Expert Commission, promoting textbook reform, facilitating civil-society cooperation, and embedding the bilateral dialogue in EU norms, Austria, together with its Berlin Process partners, can create conditions for trust-building that endure beyond the accession process.