Member states of the European Union have agreed to commence membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia, as confirmed by Petr Fiala, Prime Minister of the Czech republic, which is the country currently presiding over the EU.
Deutsche Welle reports that membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania have been expected since 2020.
The procedure to become and EU member state is long. However, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the strategic importance of the western Balkans has increased for the EU.
The announcement came on 18 July, after North Macedonia resolved a lasting argument with Bulgaria, which had previously opposed the start of membership talks with Skopje.
North Macedonian Parliament previously approved France’s proposal, which
provides for changing the country’s constitution to recognise Bulgarian minorities, protect the rights of minorities and criminalise hate speech.
Despite the support from the majority in the parliament, France’s proposal was met by wide protests in North Macedonia. Critics claimed amending the Constitution could be too wide a step to take.
North Macedonia, which was picked as a candidate for joining the EU nearly 20 years ago, had to deal with major dispute with Athens in order to join NATO in 2020.
Albania because a candidate to join the EU in 2014.
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