Politikë

Negotiations with Albania and Northern Macedonia within the French presidency

Negotiations with Albania and Northern Macedonia within the French presidency

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, in a statement to the media after the meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers, requested the opening of membership negotiations with Albania and Northern Macedonia during the French presidency. The EU High Representative said that commitment to the Western Balkans is important and that further delays in this process hurt both sides, but is also a gift to Russia.

"We must start membership negotiations with Albania and Macedonia immediately. This is also a personal commitment of mine as the EU High Representative and Vice-President of the European Commission. I hope this will happen during the French presidency. It is more than a hope and a wish. We all see that this delay is unacceptable. "We can not ask Northern Macedonia and Albania, which meet all the criteria, to sit down, in relation to each other, without giving them a clear perspective," Borrell said.

The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles, has invited the foreign ministers of the six Western Balkan countries to a working lunch in Brussels today. The main purpose was to take into account the concerns of the Western Balkan countries as a result of the threat posed to the region by Russian aggression in Ukraine, as well as to convey a clear message about the European integration process.