Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Dimitrov again implored the European Union to allow Macedonia to begin accession talks, as reports are coming that Albania may be allowed to advance while Macedonia is held behind.

Dimitrov was speaking today during a meeting with Austrian Minister Karoline Edtstadler, who is in Skopje delivering Pfizer vaccines.

In June 2018 we were told that the path is being traced so that we can begin accession talks in June 2019. In June 2019 we were told that a decision will be made in October 2019. In October 2019 they told us that a decision can’t be made. The decision was made in March 2020, but it hasn’t been put into effect yet. That is why I’m becoming more and more sincere and outspoken, and I believe that our case is a real test for the EU. We’ve been a candidate country for 16 years, and in our level of readiness we are the same, and in some instances even better that countries which have been much longer in the accession process, Dimitrov said.

Macedonia is in a de-facto group with Albania and both countries are waiting for approval to open accession talks. Bulgaria blocks Macedonia while the Netherlands and other enlargement skeptics block Albania. But recent reports from Brussels indicate that Albania may be allowed to begin the accession talks in June, while Macedonia will continue to wait.