The Dutch Parliament is expected to make its final decision on whether to approve the opening of EU accession talks with Macedonia and Albania in mid October.

The Tweede Kamer already voted in favor of allowing Macedonia to open the accession talks, a position emphasized by Foreign Minister Stef Blok yesterday, while the country continues to oppose the same for Albania.

In a letter to the Parliament, Blok praised Macedonia for the renaming under the Prespa treaty and even whitewashed the recent corruption scandal. The letter endorses the move by disgraced Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva to give all her case files to the larger unit of prosecutors led by another SDSM party loyalist, allowing the Government to continue prosecuting opposition officials.

According to Blok’s letter, published by the 360 Degrees news site, the remaining request from Macedonia is to adopt a law on state prosecutors which would be mutually agreed between SDSM and the opposition VMRO-DPMNE.

The Dutch position pushes the EU toward splitting Macedonia and Albania, a move bitterly opposed by Albania. Besides the Netherlands, France is seen as even more opposed to opening accession talks, with both countries, while Germany, Greece and Bulgaria have come out against decoupling the two countries.