The Prespa Agreement required enormous courage and vision, which I believe has been perceived in Germany. That is why North Macedonia has no Plan B. Our Plan B is start of accession negotiations by the year-end, says President Stevo Pendarovski in an interview with the web edition of German newspaper Der Spiegel. Referring to the […]
In an interview with ERT3, Greece’s Prime Minister Tsipras says the delay of North Macedonia’s accession negotiations is owed to the German Bundestag’s impossibility to give the green light “because of the summer break”. “The delay of North Macedonia’s accession negotiations is not a result of the country’s failure to implement reforms, but mainly because of […]
According the UK daily newspaper Telegraph, diplomats in Brussels accuse Emmanuel Macron, who styles himself ardent Europhile, of blocking negotiations between Brussels and Skopje on north Macedonia joining the EU. Emmanuel Macron was accused of holding North Macedonia hostage to force through his dream of closer political integration among European Union countries on Wednesday. “The […]
The decision to open accession talks between EU and North Macedonia will be taken in October. This was the conclusion of the meeting of foreign ministers of EU member countries held in Luxembourg. However, political sides in Skopje are divided over this. Zaev wrote on Facebook that the EU Council has recognized the achievements and […]
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said on June 18 that she regrets that it had not been possible for EU foreign ministers to make a decision on starting accession negotiations with the Republic of North Macedonia and with Albania. Zaharieva was quoted in a Foreign Ministry statement after a meeting of EU foreign ministers, in […]
EU ministers chairing the General Affairs Council have started discussion on the 2019 enlargement package and on opening formal membership negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania. According to the draft communique released from Monday’s Foreign Affairs Council, the EU ministers from the bloc’s 28 states will re-examine the issue in October. The Council takes stock […]
The European Union “must not lose credibility” as it weighs opening membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia, said German EU Affairs Minister Michael Roth. In his opinion, the two countries “have done their homework” assigned by Brussels, adding that North Macedonia deserves commendation for settling a name dispute last year with neighbouring Greece. Speaking […]
EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Federica Mogherini congratulated North Macedonia today on the first anniversary of the Prespa Agreement. Mogherini called on EU member countries to open accession talks for North Macedonia and Albania. “Today marks the first anniversary of the Prespa Agreement between North Macedonia and Greece and I think we […]
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini congratulated North Macedonia on the anniversary of the Prespa Agreement and urged EU member countries to greenlight the start of talks with North Macedonia and Albania. “Today’s the first anniversary of signing the Prespa Agreement between North Macedonia and Greece,” Mogherini said. “We […]
EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn urged EU member countries to start negotiations with North Macedonia as soon as possible. “I can only reiterate that talks should open as soon as possible because they did everything, and this is not a signal only to North Macedonia, but to the entire region,” […]
North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told Sunday that he expects the upcoming European Council meeting to confirm what the EU verified in the European Commission’s progress report. “Our people and our country deserve this,” Zaev said, adding that he expects the country to get a date for negotiations in September or in October and […]
North Macedonia and Albania should get a date in June or July to start talks, said High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini at Wednesday’s meeting with President Stevo Pendarovski in Brussels. Mogherini said she would recommend this to all EU member countries’ foreign ministers next week, once again acknowledging our country’s […]
Government Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced another meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but did not specify when and where the meeting would take place. “I am glad that a message has been sent for the exact date for a meeting with Chancellor Merkel. This success was also with Chancellor Merkel and the EU member […]
After the EU Commission issued a recommendation for the opening of accession talks with the two Western Balkan states North Macedonia and Albania, the European parliamentarians of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) Karas and Mandl demand that the “promises” be kept. The decision to open accession talks will be taken by the Member States later […]
Any possible delay of the decision for a date for start of negotiations by the EU could put the government at risk and put nationalist forces in power again, said Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. He was speaking Wednesday in Brussels to a selected group of foreign journalists as regards the voting in Germany’s Bundestag, which […]
In order to be approved, the European Commission’s recommendation for the start of accession negotiations must go through the parliaments of all EU member-states, which will be affected by the ongoing European elections, said Dutch Ambassador Willem Wouter Plomp. “The European elections in Netherlands take place today, the European Commission Progress Report is pending and […]
Enlargement Commissioner, Johannes Hahn is convinced that North Macedonia will receive a recommendation to launch EU accession talks before the start of the summer. Hahn announced this from Vienna, where he attended an economic forum, adding that a lot of work is being done to convince skeptic countries for the enlargement of the union. He […]
We expect all EU member states to give green light to North Macedonia, said Deputy Foreign Minister Andrej Zernovski, ahead of a think-tank forum on “Reinforcing the European Integration of the Western Balkans – Learning from the Past, Preparing for the Future” organized by the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis”, the Warsaw-based Center for Eastern […]
North Macedonia’s PM Zoran Zaev is optimistic that the country will launch accession talks with the EU. “I have just arrived from Berlin following meetings with German chancellor Merkel and French president Macron. We have big friends in Europe. This year, the country not will become a NATO member, but it will also launch accession […]
Erwan Fouere, the former EU Ambassador to Skopje, says he is disappointed from the European Commission’s compromises with countries opposing the enlargement and warns that negotiations with North Macedonia represent a test of EU’s credibility. Fouere believes the statement by Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn over ‘the preparatory stage of negotiations’ is an unwelcome compromise with […]
