The EU Council adopted on Wednesday 25 March, by written procedure, its conclusions authorising the opening of EU accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia. The day before, the Ministers for European Affairs had given their political agreement to this opening (see EUROPE 12453/20).
Parliament welcomes the decision
Without waiting for this formal adoption, several political groups in the European Parliament welcomed on Tuesday 24 March the political agreement reached in the General Affairs Council on the same day on this opening.
“In the midst of the crisis, the EU has overcome its divisions and shown real solidarity with our friends and partners. I welcome the overdue decision to open accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, while regretting that we have had to wait until now to take this important step”, stressed Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs Chair David McAllister (EPP, Germany) in a statement.
Parliament EPP group president Manfred Weber (Germany) said it was “fully deserved recognition” of the two countries’ progress and an “encouragement to continue on the path of democracy and the rule of law”. His counterpart from Renew Europe, Dacian Cioloș (Romania), explained that “this reinvigorated process should involve citizens”. “The future of the Western Balkans is European!” he said.
For S&D group president Iratxe García Pérez (Spain), Tuesday was “a great day for the people of Albania, North Macedonia and the European Union, because it [confirmed] that the enlargement policy, one of the EU’s most successful policies, [is] still relevant”. “Both countries have fully deserved this decision, [...] they have met all the criteria and have done what was asked of them in order to move closer to the EU”, she added.
See EU Council conclusions: https://bit.ly/33W4P4d (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)