“This is your success. It is your success and the success of your citizens,” said EU Commission President von der Leyen in praise of the two new accession candidates.
On Tuesday, the EU announced the long-stalled accession negotiations North Macedonia began. In the course of the day, talks with Albania should also start. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the step as a “historic moment”. “This is your success. It is your success and the success of your citizens,” von der Leyen said to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and his North Macedonian colleague Dimitar Kovacevski.
A so-called intergovernmental conference started on Tuesday North Macedonia, the conference with Albania was to follow on the same day. The so-called negotiation frameworks were to be officially presented to the Balkan countries. These are a prerequisite for the EU Commission to be able to start with the “screenings”. The authority examines the extent to which the national law of the candidate country differs from EU legislation and requires adjustment. “We will start very quickly,” promised von der Leyen.
The Commission can then recommend opening so-called negotiation chapters. In order for them to be implemented, however, a unanimous decision by the EU states is required again. Overall, the negotiation process can take many years.
Bulgaria was opposed
The intergovernmental conferences at the start of the accession negotiations North Macedonia and Albania should actually already be organized in 2020. However, the EU country Bulgaria blocked the necessary decisions because of a dispute North Macedonia. Among other things, it was about the interpretation of the partly shared history and the rights of the ethnic Bulgarians in North Macedonia. Only last Sunday did both sides sign a protocol to settle the dispute.
Europe Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) described the start of the accession negotiations as “an important moment for the two countries, for the entire Western Balkan region and for the EU”. At the same time, Edtstadler called for “rapidly tangible results”. The minister warned that progress must be made, especially in times of war and crisis, “so that the vacuum that has already developed in the Western Balkans is no longer left to Russia or China.”
“Now is not only the time to reward this perseverance, but also to restore the trust of the states in the Western Balkans in the EU,” demanded Andreas Schieder, head of the SPÖ delegation and chairman of the North Macedonia-Delegation in the European Parliament. “The empty promises made by the EU member states about the accession of the Western Balkan countries if the necessary criteria are met have left a strong mark.”
(APA/dpa)