(ANSA) - BRUSSELS, JUNE 19 - The beginning of negotiations
for North Macedonia's and Albania's EU membership is at a
standstill and the decision is postponed until October, said the
EU ministers at the end of their meeting in Luxembourg, focusing
on the EU enlargement issue. The "pressure of time" to make a
"clear and substantial decision" and "the importance of the
issue" led the ministers to postpone the decision.
Even twelve months ago, the 28 member countries did not
achieve an agreement to start the negotiations and, therefore,
postponed the decision until June this year. Among those who
opposed the decision are France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and
Germany. "Unfortunately, a minority of countries did not support
our recommendation" to open negotiations with Skopje and Tirana
"as soon as possible", said EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes
Hahn, underlining that Brussels "believes that we need to reward
the countries that have achieved the required objectives",
offering the Western Balkans a "credible European prospect".
(ANSA).
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