Faced with the danger of not receiving approval from the EU member states to open accession talks with Macedonia, political supporters of the Zaev regime in the European Parliament are recommending decoupling Macedonia from Albania.

Zaev’s supporters expect that Macedonia has greater chances to open accession talks if evaluated on its own, without being part of a package with Albania. France and the Netherlands are the most outspoken opponents of the accession talks, and Dutch social-democrat member of the European Parliament Kati Piri said that the two countries should be judged separately.

My group hopes that the decision in June will be positive for both countries. We would’ve preferred if it is not done in a package, but based on individual merit, but there is no reason to delay anyway, Piri said during the presentation of the Balkan progress report today, reported the MIA news agency.

The Commission recommends opening accession talks for both countries, but opposition from key countries remains. Zaev himself warned that, if the accession talks don’t begin, it would be due to Albania dragging Macedonia down with it.