What are the factors that make the rule of law resilient to threats and crises? Can countries with fragile institutions emerge stronger from serious political and democratic challenges? Does the European Union accession process truly promote resilient institutions, or does it merely encourage short-term performativity?
These questions were the focus of the three-day conference organized by the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” – Skopje (IDSCS), in partnership with IEP. The event, held from May 5 to 7 2025 in Skopje, marked the launch of the project “RESILIO-ACCESS: Resilience Observatory on the Rule of Law in EU Accession Candidates.
The meeting brought together experts from academia, think tank representatives, civil society organizations, policy makers, and other key stakeholders from North Macedonia and beyond working on issues related to the rule of law and EU integration.
Marko Troshanovski, President of the Institute for Democracy, emphasized the inclusion of candidate countries in the rule of law mechanisms in the EU enlargement process is a positive step and places them on the same footing as member states, enabling all to be assessed by the same criteria. He highlighted: “In these uncertain times of war and geopolitical turbulence, the rule of law is increasingly being pushed to the margins, but I believe that it is not only military power and economic strength that make a state resilient – rather, it is precisely the respect for the law and governance guided by democratic values and rules that enables a state to progress and become resilient.”
IEP Director Prof. Dr Funda Tekin emphasized that the RESILIO-ACCESS project aims understand what strengthens or undermines the foundations of democracy.
“It is important not only to look at resilience as a buzzword, but the resilient rule of law is a function of democracy. It is not only sufficient to tick the boxes on the state of the rule of law, we need to understand what strengthens it and what destabilizes it. Resilience must be viewed through the lens of active civil society and genuine democratic practices, not just institutional structures,” she said.
Mira Luthe-Xu, Project Manager at Stiftung Mercator, stressed the importance of recognizing that at a time when the rule of law is under pressure, its capacity for defense is more important than ever.
The conference concluded with a panel discussion titled “The rule of law and the EU accession process – challenges and opportunities for accession candidates and the EU” chaired by Borjan Gjuzelov (IDSCS). The discussion focused on monitoring the rule of law dimension during the EU accession process and the geopolitical context of EU accession.
Prof. Dr Funda Tekin (IEP) highlighted two logics influencing the EU accession process: a meritocratic modernization logic focused on domestic democratization, and a geopolitical logic that prioritizes EU security and power. The latter has gained prominence following the Russian aggression against Ukraine but not sufficient for a strong promotion of the rule of law, according to Tekin.
Prof. Dr Marko Krtolica (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje) emphasized that politicization and delays in the accession process undermine the EU’s transformative power, using North Macedonia's experience as a cautionary tale. Additionally, he also warned: “Democracy is not a done deal – backsliding is possible even after EU membership.”
Prof. Dr. Bohdan Veselovskyi (Taras Shevchenko University, Kyiv) shared insights from Ukraine's wartime experience, asserting that reform is essential even amidst conflict. He noted that the rule of law is crucial for national cohesion and that meaningful reforms are driven by both EU expectations and citizen demands.
Simonida Kacarska (European Policy Institute, Skopje), assessed that the accession negotiations are not a “magic wand” for reforms and emphasized that the need to build an internal consensus and pressure for change in accession countries, independent of the EU negotiations.
Insights from the conference will inform the RESILIO-ACCESS project, implemented by IDSCS and IEP, which aims to measure the resilience of the rule of law in EU candidate countries. RESILIO-ACCESS is funded by Stiftung Mercator.
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