(AP-ANSA) - BRUSSELS - European Union ministers failed on
Tuesday to reach a consensus on whether to open membership talks
with Albania and North Macedonia, amid stiff opposition to the
move from France. "It was not a moment of glory for Europe,"
Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn told reporters in
Luxembourg after taking part in a meeting of European affairs
ministers. Apologizing to the citizens of the two Balkans
hopefuls, Hahn said that "the overwhelming majority" of EU
member countries supported the European Commission's
recommendation to start talks with Albania and North Macedonia.
He didn't name the countries that oppose the move, but Finnish
European affairs minister Tytti Tuppurainen, who was chairing
the talks because her country holds the EU's rotating
presidency, noted that there was "one member state particularly
against." "Unfortunately today the council was not able to reach
a unanimous decision. I regret that," she said. (AP-ANSA).
© Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved