Western Balkans EU Enlargement: How Long Can Europe Keep Its Neighbours Waiting?, 15/07/2026

Well, yeah, we are sitting in geopolitically very, very, uh, stressful, frightening times actually for many citizens of Europe as well.

And which is why the impetus is, is so grave and matters so much.

So let's just, um, lean into that a little bit.

Uh, going back to your journalism, um, the Hungarian media has interests in North Macedonia driven by business people who seem to be associated with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Um, they've s-

Former.

[laughs]

Yes, yes, yes.

Former.

The, correct.

Yeah.

Uh, the strategic acquisition of television stations, news portals, um, which can affect public discourse, of course.

You have seen this as well.

North Macedonia, um, what do the people there, the citizens feel when this arm of media influence is coming in?

There are a lot of media influences in, uh, North Macedonia actually.

Uh, uh, after the beginning of the w- war in Ukraine, there was a lot of, uh, media attention i- in general, and media involvement and media manipulation, I would say, from, uh, from the Serbian media who are pro-Russian.

Uh, and also because they are read also in Macedonia, e- especially digital media, the, the, the portals.

And I was one of the journalists that in the beginning said, uh, that the Russian media should be banned, for instance.

Also, although I am a journalist and I wouldn't, I, I wouldn't like, uh, censorship to, to happen in any country because the, the, the media should be free and the opinion should be free.

But then I, uh, quoted in my- one of, of my columns that, uh, actually there, there should not be freedom for the enemies of freedom.

And, uh, uh, e- especially in those times, uh, a lot of journalists said that, "Oh, you're for the censorship.

So the public is educated, and they can choose whatever they want to read, so let the media be free, be free." But I, I think that if the media are manipulated, they, they cannot be free.

And so the, the audience is not that well-educated.

Maybe we, the journalists or the politicians or academics are educated, and they can choose whatever they wish.

But, uh, for instance, what I see today also in European Union, there are a number of Russian media who are banned, but also, but in some countries they are not.