The European Union has officially opened accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia. The latter received candidate status back in 2005.
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced this on Twitter.
"Today, Albania and North Macedonia open negotiations on joining the EU. This historical moment is your success. The result of your hard work," she emphasized.
According to von der Leyen, the European Commission will immediately start evaluating the legislation of Albania and North Macedonia for compliance with EU regulations and plans to do it as soon as possible. After that, countries will begin to bring their laws into line with European rules.
“You have shown patience, vision and leadership. And you have repeatedly proven your commitment to European values — as friends and reliable partners. We will all benefit when one day we welcome Albania and North Macedonia into the EU,” she said.
North Macedonia applied for EU membership back in 2004. Albania did so in 2009. Macedonians received candidate status for accession in 2005, and Albanians in 2014. Later, the European Union decided to link these applications to each other, but the accession negotiations never started due to the veto of North Macedoniaʼs neighbors.
At first, Greece opposed the name of this country, believing that only a Greek region can be called Macedonia. Finally, in 2018, the Macedonians changed their name to North Macedonia, and Greece unblocked the countryʼs entry into NATO and the EU.
However, after that, Bulgaria began to block the accession of North Macedonia to the EU. There, they believe that they practice "anti-Bulgarian ideology" in North Macedonia and deny historical ties with Bulgarians. Also in Bulgaria they say that the Macedonian historical national heroes were Bulgarians, and the Macedonian language is Bulgarian.
Finally, on June 24, the Bulgarian parliament voted to cancel the veto on the further European integration of North Macedonia. There they agreed to give permission to continue the negotiations, if the Macedonians fulfill certain conditions. The deputies emphasized that they are ready to lift the veto if North Macedonia effectively implements the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation from 2017 and enshrines the rights of Bulgarians on a par with other peoples in the countryʼs Constitution. The relevant agreement was also approved by the Macedonian parliament on July 16.