As Macedonia and Albania discuss whether and how to “decouple” in their quest to open EU accession talks, the Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Edi Rama appeared together at a regional business forum in London held under the Berlin process.

Rama lashed out at Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski, who suggested separating the EU accession bids of the two countries so that Macedonia would have an easier time getting the accession date. Rama reminded Pendarovski, and by extension Zaev, of the help he provided them in getting them both elected to their offices. Pendarovski quickly backed down in the argument and EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn suggested that the two countries will be judged as a package in October.

The two called on British companies to invest in the Balkans and touted their future EU accession as a factor that should play a role in their decisions.