The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, announced on Sunday 20 October, the holding of early elections in his country for mid-April, as a direct result of the recent European summit.
"We reached a consensus for elections on 12 April 2020", Zaev said after meeting with the country's main political leaders and President Stevo Pendarovski.
Meeting in Brussels last week, EU leaders noted a deadlock on the opening of EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania (see EUROPE 12351/4), whereas such a decision requires unanimity. They simply agreed to address this issue again before the EU/Western Balkans Summit, which will take place in Zagreb in May 2020 under the Croatian Presidency of the EU Council.
France, supported by the Netherlands on the Albanian case, refused to initiate a process that was supposed to last several years before the accession of the two countries to the EU, calling for a prior reform of the Union at the time of Brexit and the accession negotiation process itself.
Several Heads of State or Government, as well as the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission (see EUROPE 12352/2), have described this blockage as a "historical error" of the EU, which risks discouraging these countries on the European path and benefiting other powers, such as Russia and China, active in the Western Balkans.
A Social Democrat who came to power in 2017, Mr Zaev invested his political capital in putting North Macedonia on the road to EU membership, particularly with the agreement to change his country's name in return. He will resign in early January 2020 and a technical government will then be appointed, in accordance with national legislation. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)