Prime Minister Zoran Zaev replied to the announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron that France opposes EU enlargement until the Union has been reformed and deepened.

Europe has no future without enlargement. I’m convinced that we will be given a date to open EU accession talks in October. In the meantime, the EU can reform itself, can debate, we will negotiate on our accession chapters. Ultimately, whether the EU expands or not, we have a lot of time, until 2025 at least, to wait for the EU reforms, Zaev said.

France has vocally opposed enlargement and opening of accession talks with Macedonia and Albania, and following the difficult meetings to determine the next key EU officials, President Macron bluntly said that there will be no enlargement until the EU figures out a way to reach decisions with its current 28 members.