EU chiefs call for start of membership talks with North Macedonia, Albania

Ursula von der Leyen signs up to appeal for accession negotiations to get under way.

Outgoing president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and President-elect Ursula von der Leyen have appealed to EU member countries to start accession talks | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images

Leaders of the EU’s main institutions on Thursday put pressure on member states to start accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania “no later” than this month.

In a letter, the current and future presidents of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker and Ursula von der Leyen, as well as European Council President Donald Tusk and European Parliament President David Sassoli said the two Balkan nations have done “what we asked them to do.” They wrote that the EU faces a “strategic choice. Whether the EU decides now to open accession talks … is a test of the Union’s ability to deliver on its promises and look to the future.”

“North Macedonia and Albania did what we asked them to do. Achieving that required a significant effort from their citizens, for whom the European perspective has been a great source of motivation and determination.”

They ended the letter by saying: “We believe that now is the time to open accession talks with both countries.”

The question of whether to open talks with North Macedonia and Albania is expected to be on the agenda on the EU’s General Affairs Council on October 15. Both last year and in June this year, the Council delayed a decision. France and the Netherlands have been the most outspoken opponents of a start to talks for the two countries.

The issue could end up with EU leaders at the European Council on October 17-18. However, enlargement is not mentioned on the official agenda, save for the line “depending on events, EU leaders might also discuss foreign policy issues.”

Some countries are willing to see a debate on enlargement at the summit, according to two diplomats. At a meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday, positions were unchanged, with the majority of member states in favor of opening negotiations while some, led by France, are still not convinced, said one of the diplomats. Some diplomats expect North Macedonia alone to get the green light in the end.

In the summer of 2018, the EU held out the prospect of the two countries being invited to start membership talks in June this year and the European Commission declared in May that both had made the necessary progress on democratic standards and the rule of law.

Failure to reach agreement on inviting the two countries to begin talks has infuriated some EU members and European Commission officials. They argue that delaying a decision undermines the bloc’s credibility, puts the pro-EU governments of both countries in peril and risks boosting strategic rivals in the western Balkans such as Russia, China and Turkey.

Opponents of starting talks cite the western Balkans’ deep-seated problems with corruption, organized crime and poverty and its recent history of conflict. France has emerged as a leading enlargement skeptic, arguing that the EU must deepen integration among existing members and reform unwieldy decision-making processes before it contemplates adding new countries.

Tusk has long been a supporter of EU enlargement and publicly backed North Macedonia joining the EU during a visit to Skopje last month, following a meeting with Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

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