Outgoing European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker said the French decision to veto the opening of EU accession talks with Macedonia and Albania was “shameful”.

If Europe’s strength lies in us being a reliable partner, someone to count on to defend the multilateral rules-based global order, our weakness lies in the failure to keep our promises — both ours and those of our international allies. The prime example of this is our enlargement policy and European leaders’ shameful inability to live up to their commitment to start accession talks with “North” Macedonia and Albania once these governments fulfilled the necessary criteria. Respect must be earned and we want to maintain our credibility, we have to do what we say we will — internally and externally, Juncker told Politico in his farewell interview.