EU Albania secedes from North Macedonia/ Opens the first chapters for integration

2024-09-26 09:13:00, Aktualitet CNA

EU Albania secedes from North Macedonia/ Opens the first chapters for

Albania's EU integration path will be separated from that of North Macedonia, with the first groups of negotiations to be officially opened on October 15.

This was the decision taken unanimously by the ambassadors of the member countries of the European Union on Wednesday.

The news was confirmed by a spokesperson for Euractiv .

The breakup of the integration of the two states occurred due to disputes between Skopje and Bulgaria, which directly affected the progress of Albania.

The next step is expected to be taken by Albania in mid-October, within the framework of the intergovernmental conference and the opening of "Cluster 1 - Fundamentals".

This group includes several chapters such as: Procurement, Statistics, Judiciary and fundamental rights, justice, freedom and security and financial control.

Euractiv calls the split good news for Albania, but a setback for North Macedonia, which has failed to take a decisive step towards EU membership.

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EU: The new Macedonian government to advance the path towards integration
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We recall that Bulgaria and North Macedonia agreed under the French presidency of the EU in July 2022 to amend its constitution and include the Bulgarian minority along with other minorities currently referred to as "the Turkish people, the Vlach people, the Serbian people, the Roma, the Bosnian people, etc."

This would cause Sofia to remove the veto and the progress of the Skopje talks. However, the agreement has not been implemented due to the lack of political will and consensus in North Macedonia, which means that the integration of the two countries has stalled.

Currently, 100,000 Macedonian citizens have obtained Bulgarian citizenship, which means that they have proven their Bulgarian roots.

Since the nationalist party VMRO-DPMNE won the elections last May, the new government of Hristijan Mickoski has made it clear that it wants to renegotiate the so-called "French compromise"./ CNA