16 minutes agoEC President: Open negotiations with Albania immediately
Periskopi(7 years ago)
(7 years ago)European Commission President-elect Ursula Von der Leyeen urged European Union leaders to start EU membership talks for Albania and Northern Macedonia immediately. She stressed that Russia or China can fill the gap if the European Union is not present in the region. In a lecture in remembrance of [...]
European Commission President-elect Ursula Von der Leyeen urged European Union leaders to start EU membership talks for Albania and Northern Macedonia immediately.
She stressed that Russia or China can fill the gap if the European Union is not present in the region.
In a speech commemorating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Von der Leyen said Europe “has demanded a lot from Northern Macedonia and Albania, and they have all fulfilled”.
“Now we must be true with our word and begin accession talks”, she stressed.
She said EU leaders have delayed the possibility of membership for Western Balkan countries since 2003.
It warned that if Brussels does not offer a European perspective to Western Balkan states “the others will fill the gap of China, Russia, Turkey or Saudi Arabia”.
France's President Emmanuel Macron was the only EU leader to block talks on both Northern Macedonia and Albania at the latest meeting of the European Council.
