Following the peaceful transfer of power in June this year, the new government in Skopje unveiled an ambitious reform programme to put the country back on the path towards EU accession. This so-called 3-6-9 plan foresees a set of reforms to be carried out in stages around milestones three months apart: the local elections in October, the EU Council meeting in December, and the Commission report before the 2018 Western Balkans summit in Sofia. The government hopes that the successful implementation of this strategy will persuade the EU to give the country the green light for the start of accession negotiations.

At this Policy Brief, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, spoke about the implementation of the plan, how the first phase had unfolded, and what the government’s priorities were in the next stages of the plan.