Last week, several media outlets in the country published information from a briefing of European diplomats with civil associations on the situation with civil society and political elites, related to the EU negotiation process, i.e. with Macedonia's pre-accession European integration process and the role of civil society and political elites in him.

The secret briefers allegedly expressed dissatisfaction with what the non-governmental, media and political elites did to support European integration, even though the EU invested tens of millions of euros in them.

Briefing European diplomats is not an unusual thing, but in this case it seems mysterious considering that neither the EU, nor the Delegation of the Union in the country, nor the non-governmental organizations have any information. A number of the relevant non-governmental organizations, as stated by their representatives, heard about such a briefing for the first time and do not know any of their colleagues who were present.

According to media reports, the briefing, last week, before the visit of the High Representative for European and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borel to Skopje, was held by an unnamed senior diplomat from Borel's cabinet and a diplomat - task manager from the European Foreign Service affairs (EEAS) in charge of Macedonia and Albania. Part of the messages at that briefing were in the direction that the EU conditions the financial and general support of civil society organizations with a request that they refrain from criticizing the process and give unconditional support to European integration.

Brussels-based EEAS sources categorically denied to "Free Press" that the document that was leaked as a transcript of the briefing was their document and claimed that it contained "several errors and things that are not in their domain." From there, they add that "they don't know if it's a fake document or something else."

A few days after the publication of the information, the EU Delegation in Skopje announced its reaction, stating that it was an "alleged briefing by non-governmental organizations".

"Civil society has an important role in any democratic society, acting as a watchdog and corrective to authorities, providing expertise, promoting innovation and creativity, and strengthening democratic accountability. For these reasons the European Union has been a long-standing and consistent supporter of civil society in general, including through the provision of financial assistance.

The same applies to non-governmental organizations in North Macedonia, now a negotiating country. In this context, civil society can play a very positive role and act as a partner in promoting reforms and advancing the European integration agenda.

This does not mean that NGOs should refrain from a critical view of the process, of the reforms or indeed of the EU itself. It is normal and healthy to have different views on the processes", reads the reaction from the EU Delegation.

From there, they add that as far as their financial support for civil society organizations is concerned, it is usually provided for the implementation of specific activities that promote the basic values ​​on which the EU was founded and to which North Macedonia is also committed to the European perspective. This, according to the EU, includes respect for human rights, the rule of law and democratic values.

"While we expect the organizations we support to act with professionalism and integrity and share the same values, civil society must always be free to express its views on the issues at hand and act independently," the EU Delegation said. .

Otherwise, at the "briefing", which was reported by part of the media, the European diplomats allegedly demanded greater involvement of civil society organizations and the entire society in this process with an unequivocal commitment to the EU agenda and the use of EU funds for civil society organizations and the media, with in order to further strengthen the role played by these social groups and communities. The diplomats, as stated, emphasized among other things that the EU has invested close to 10 million euros in direct financial support to civil society and the media in North Macedonia in the last few years alone, and announced that their commitment to these partners will continue in the next period, " but they must see the full commitment to the EU agenda of our previous partners and local collaborators, because the citizens still have the highest trust and support precisely for the European Union (even though it is falling)".

They also expressed serious concern about the ever-increasing influence of hybrid threats in order to erode trust in the country's system and undermine the EU accession process and negotiations from the increasing spread of disinformation and fake news, as well as the insufficient commitment of some of the pro-European declared organizations. towards the EU and the integration of the country, as well as the absence of transparency.

The diplomats also demanded a greater role and commitment of civil society organizations and the relevant institutions towards the European Green Deal and the Green Agenda 2030, and they also said that "EU institutions with a mandate for appropriate investigations into European projects and grants have throughout this period a narrow focus on North Macedonia and Albania", because high political and institutional corruption is becoming more and more evident.