The debate on conditionality as a principle of enlargement has heralded pre-accession monitoring as a key mechanism of compliance with EU standards. The academic camp has paid, however, a scant attention to the relationship between monitoring and the success or failure of enlargement. Facing the next enlargement round to the Western Balkans, this research paper investigates how progress made by the Republic of Macedonia is monitored in the realm of minority protection. Aimed at unraveling the rationale behind the European Commission’s approach to monitoring, the paper demonstrates that monitoring in the field of minority protection is not directly tied to accession into the EU as the final outcome of the pre-accession process. In the absence of a clear monitoring framework, monitoring activities are largely brought into play on an ad hoc basis, thereby allowing for the identifi-cation of two crucial shortcomings. Firstly, there is a profound lack of clarity of minority protection standards to which Macedonia needs to adhere. Secondly, inferior quality of both analysis and interpretation of indicator findings based on a random choice of issues, poorly justified conclusions, and vague recommendations is detected. These drawbacks will allow for the opportunity to develop a revised monitoring scheme aimed not only at upholding but also furthering compliance in the area of minority protection to ensure that Macedonia’s multicultural model is of benefit to all ethnic groups.