Tag: enlargement
Macedonia 03.12.19 | 09:30

EP to discuss Western Balkans and EU enlargement

MEPs and members of the national parliaments of the Western Balkan countries will hold talks Tuesday in Brussels on the EU integration process and EU enlargement policy. Parliamentarians from Albania, BiH, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia, including leaders of political and parliamentary groups, will...

Macedonia 27.11.19 | 19:34

Von der Leyen: New enlargement rules should not apply to Skopje and Tirana

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters shortly after the European Parliament’s election of the composition of the Commission that Macedonia and Albania deserved to start EU negotiations, MIA’s correspondent reported. I am fully convinced that it is in our strategic...

World 22.11.19 | 15:05

Viktor Orban: George Soros personally intervened to prevent Hungarian commissioner’s appointment

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that gaining the European Commission’s enlargement and neighbourhood portfolio is Hungary’s greatest diplomatic success of the last ten years. In an interview with the public Kossuth radio Orban said he cannot recall that Hungary had ever managed...

Macedonia 19.11.19 | 10:14

EU foreign affairs ministers to discuss enlargement reforms for the first time after the French blockade

EU foreign affairs ministers will return Tuesday to the issue of enlargement to the Western Balkans and negotiations with Macedonia and Albania for the first time after the French blockade in October. The General Affairs Council held today does not foresee any concrete conclusions, but merely an exchange...

Macedonia 18.11.19 | 17:51

German MEP McAllister calls on EU member states to correct their mistake and approve EU accession talks with Macedonia and Albania

German member of the European Parliament David McAllister, who sits on the AFET Foreign Committee, called on the member states to correct the mistake from the latest European Council and to approve the opening of EU accession talks with Macedonia and Albania. McAllister pointed to the coming meeting...

World 15.11.19 | 21:14

France puts forward new principles for EU enlargement

France has forwarded a so-called “non-paper” to EU member states, requesting a “renewed approach” in the enlargement process towards the Western Balkans. In addition, the European Commission requests that the new methodology in the accession process, which would be applied in...

Macedonia 18.10.19 | 15:43

Tusk confirms the failure in Brussels, the decision is likely to be postponed until May 2020

The failure at the European Council was confirmed officially today, as Donald Tusk declared his regret that European leaders could not agree to allow the opening of accession talks with Macedonia and Albania. While the exact conclusions are not published yet, it was announced that the decision will be...

Macedonia 18.10.19 | 14:24

MIA: No progress in Brussels, the issue may be postponed for December

European leaders have still not closed the issue of opening accession talks with Macedonia and Albania, but the odds of reaching some agreement are very slim, reports the MIA news agency from Brussels. Several member states have pushed France today to get it to amend its position but to no avail. Others...

Macedonia 18.10.19 | 13:11

Bildt blasts France, the Netherlands and Denmark

Former Swedish Prime Minister and international Balkan envoy Carl Bildt warned that France, the Netherlands and Denmark – the countries who objected to EU enlargement – are opening the Balkans for other powers. This is not a small thing! By blocking the start of Balkan accession talks France,...

Macedonia 18.10.19 | 08:05

No agreement in Brussels, no date for Macedonia

European leaders could not agree on opening EU accession talks with Macedonia yesterday. Despite reports that politicians such as Donald Tusk and even Angela Merkel are pushing for the accession date, France remained firm in its opposition and the EUCO dinner ended without mention of enlargement in the...

Macedonia 17.10.19 | 19:55

V4 leaders deeply disappointed over the failure to open EU accession talks

Further postponement of the EU accession negotiations of Albania and Macedonia would weaken stability in the Western Balkans and severely limit the EU’s influence in the region, the prime ministers of the Visegrad 4 countries have warned. V4 leaders have expressed their deep disappointment that...

Balkans 15.10.19 | 16:33

Rama: The sun will rise again tomorrow

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was stoical in face of the likely loss of the expected date to open EU accession talks in October. The sun will rise again and our efforts will continue, Rama said today. Albania, which is in a de-facto group with Macedonia, is seen as the weaker of the two candidates....

Macedonia 15.10.19 | 13:36

Hahn: EU risks losing influence on Balkans

The European Union risks losing its influence in the Western Balkans if it fails to send a clear signal for the start of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn told Austrian news agency APA. If,...

News 13.10.19 | 19:52

Bloomberg: Macron Seeks to Slow EU Expansion in Blow to Balkan Aspirations

Bloomberg reports on the intent by French President Emmanuel Macron to bring down a notch the push to enlarge Europe toward the Balkans. Macron is meeting Chancellor Merkel this evening in a meeting beset by many crises, during which Macedonia and Albania hope she will get the French President to allow...

Macedonia 12.10.19 | 13:28

Merkel, Macron meeting last chance for Macedonia and Albania EU accession talks

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to meet French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the upcoming European Council, in what may be the last chance to pressure Macron to relent on opening accession talks with Macedonia and Albania in October. France has briefed the press that it remains opposed...

Macedonia 10.10.19 | 16:40

France will push to delay EU accession talks decision with Macedonia and Albania for March 2020, RTS reports

The Serbian state television RTS reports from Brussels that France demands a delay in the opening of accession talks with Macedonia and Albania for March 2020. France is the most vocal opponent of enlargement toward the Balkans and stands in the way of the hoped for opening of accession talks this October...

Macedonia 16.09.19 | 18:07

Greece says it supports its neighbors joining the EU – if they follow the rules

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said that Greece supports the EU integration of Macedonia and Albania, but provided the two countries accomplish their obligations. Dendias met with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas who, coming from the social-democratic party SPD, wants to see the two SPD Balkan governments...

Macedonia 12.09.19 | 17:16

Visegrad countries support opening EU accession talks with Macedonia and Albania

The Prime Ministers of the four Visegrad group countries called on the European Union to open accession talks with both Macedonia and Albania in October. The leaders of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are holding a meeting in Prague during which they declared that adding the Balkans...

Macedonia 16.07.19 | 16:27

Von der Leyen makes no mention of Macedonia, or EU enlargement, in her speech before the European Parliament

Ursula von der Leyen, who has been nominated to be the next President of the European Commission, made no mention of Macedonia or EU enlargement in her remarks before the European Parliament today. It was widely reported that the PES social-democratic group in the Parliament demands commitment from Von...

Macedonia 01.07.19 | 17:04

Borisov announces the Balkans will be left out in the cold by the coming EU leadership

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov indicated that Macedonia and the other Balkan countries will be stood up by the coming Euroepan Union leadership. Borisov discussed the dispute between European leaders who were unable to divide the top EU positions between themselves, and explained that Bulgaria...

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