After 17 and eight years of waiting respectively, North Macedonia and Albania opened their EU accession negotiations on Tuesday 19 July.
“This is a historic moment”, stressed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of the first two Intergovernmental Conferences of the two countries. “Any comment now cannot balance the extraordinary weight this decision has for Albania”, Prime Minister Edi Rama summed up, and his Macedonian counterpart Dimitar Kovačevski also used the word “historic”.
According to Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, whose country holds the six-month Presidency of the EU Council, this is a “milestone” in the development of relations between the EU and North Macedonia, the EU and Albania. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala wished both countries the “fastest possible process”. “We know that this is not the beginning of the end, it’s just the end of the beginning”, Mr Rama stressed, while Mr Kovačevski hoped that his country would have the quickest EU integration process, as was the case for joining NATO.
An applicant for 17 years, North Macedonia was recommended by the Commission to open accession negotiations 13 years ago. Bilateral issues with Greece and Bulgaria have delayed the process. Albania has been a candidate for eight years and the Commission recommended the opening of accession negotiations four years ago.
The two Intergovernmental Conferences allowed the start of the accession negotiation process with Skopje and Tirana. After these meetings, the European Commission launched the examination of the acquis communautaire, which is “the first step in the accession negotiation process”, said Commissioner for Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi. It allows to see the state of the country’s alignment with the European regulation. This work will make it possible “in the coming months (...) to build a solid basis for the opening of groups of negotiation chapters”, explained the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in a statement.
These Intergovernmental Conferences were made possible by the vote in the Macedonian Parliament of the French compromise to settle the dispute with Bulgaria (see EUROPE 12995/6). The compromise, which was opposed in North Macedonia, was “the best possible solution, which respects and complies with the red lines in many aspects”, Mr Kovačevski explained, adding that the Macedonian language was mentioned without further explanation or asterisk, “which is of the utmost importance for us”. “I know how painful and demanding the decision-making process was, but in the end, resilience, determination and true spirit prevail”, Mr Lipavský said.
In order to open accession negotiation chapters, North Macedonia will have to change its Constitution. This will require a 2/3 majority in Parliament, which is not a given. The Macedonian Prime Minister said that “all political leaders in the country have a duty to support the process” of accession. “It is the only way to create a more sustainable, more prosperous future, there is no alternative”, he said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)