Four EU countries support opening negotiations with Skopje, Tirana

The European Union's decision on the possibility of starting negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania comes at a time when member states are facing numerous challenges”, says a letter co-signed by Thomas Petricek, Czech Foreign Minister Peter Sziyarrto, Hungarian Foreign Minister Jacques Czaputovac from Poland and Miroslav Lajcak, Slovakia's top diplomat.

Whatever the case, the issues that happened before (Brexit, migration, instability of the figs, and the mandate of the new European Commission) should not distract us from what we can achieve if we stick to the commitments in the region”, it is said in their letter, which Politico published.

The ministers remember that the prospect of EU membership was promised to all Western Balkan countries at the 2003 summit in Thessaloniki, just months after accession negotiations with ten new EU members were signed in Athens.

“Today, 16 years after the Thessaloniki Summit, we are pleased to see how EU enlargement has proved to be one of the most successful policies. Progress made by Western Balkan countries has been impressive. They have transformed their economies, judiciary, public administration and security”, the top diplomats of the four EU countries stress.

At a ministerial meeting to be held in Luxembourg on 15 October, the foreign ministers of EU member states must decide whether to open accession negotiations for northern Macedonia and Albania.

This decision should be later confirmed at a summit, which will take place on 17 October-18 October in Brussels.

At their meeting in June, the ministers approved conclusions for Western Balkan countries, promising to make a decision “later than October 2019”.

France and the Netherlands are among the main opponents of opening accession negotiations. /rel