The EU Council gave a green light to the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, on Tuesday 24 March, after months of discussions.
"We have reached a political agreement to open accession negotiations" with both countries "on the basis of the draft conclusions already prepared" (see EUROPE 12452/24), announced Croatian State Secretary Andreja Metelko-Zgombić, following an informal meeting of the General Affairs Council by videoconference. She called the decision "historic".
The EU Council conclusions will be formally adopted by written procedure, which is expected to start on Wednesday and end on Thursday. The European Council of the same day is also expected to endorse the ministers’ decision.
The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, also announced that the Commission would speed up the work and present the negotiating frameworks for the two countries "very soon", so that the negotiations could begin "very quickly". He said that these frameworks could be published with the annual enlargement package "in June".
No dates for the first intergovernmental conferences are mentioned in the draft conclusions.
The conference with Albania could, however, take some time, as certain conditions have been set for the organisation of the conference, concerning the rule of law, judicial reform and the fight against corruption. However, the Commissioner wanted to be reassuring, believing that by June most of the conditions will have been met.
The ministers' decision was welcomed by all sides, including the leaders of both countries. "In a very difficult moment for our country, for Europe and for the whole world, we have received good and expected news from Brussels: the Republic of North Macedonia is starting EU accession negotiations", commented Macedonian Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski.
For his part, the Albanian Foreign Minister, Ditmir Bushati, said he was "happy". "It is time to show political maturity and unity in order to meet the conditions set for the preparation of the negotiating framework and the first intergovernmental conference", he warned. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)