The ministers of European affairs of EU member states were unable to unanimously agree to start EU talks with Albania and North Macedonia.
The General Affairs Council (GAC) met online on Tuesday, two days ahead of the EU leaders meeting on December 10 and 11, to discuss the two negotiating framework with the two south-east European countries, among other topics.
No unanimous decision was taken, which means that EU talks for the two countries will not start within 2020, as they wished.
German Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth, whose country has struggled to have talks started during their presidency of the EU Council until 2020, urged for support for this to happen. He said that anything short of starting the talks with North Macedonia and Albania, despite the conditions the latter need to meet, would be a serious political mistake “that would harm stability and security in the Western Balkan region” and in the wider Europe.
Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement was also disappointed by the lack of unanimity in the GAC. He said the deadlock must be broken quickly and talks started in a short period.
Bulgaria has vetoed North Macedonia’s talks due to disagreements over national identity and language.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has blamed the Netherlands for unjustly blocking the country’s progress in the EU.
