EXPLAINER: What’s behind North Macedonia’s long road to EU?

By KONSTANTIN TESTORIDES and VESELIN TOSHKOV
Associated Press

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Nightly protests in North Macedonia over the last week have left dozens of people injured. At the heart of the turmoil is the small Balkan country’s long-running quest to join the European Union. The most recent hurdle was a veto by EU member Bulgaria. A French proposal for a compromise to address Bulgaria’s concerns has divided North Macedonia, sparking the sometimes violent protests. France’s plan also met deep objections in Bulgaria and helped to bring down the government, which had accepted the compromise. North Macedonia has been an EU candidate for 17 years. But in a region where borders and ethnicities have shifted and overlapped over centuries, problems have beset the country from the start.