Macro optimistic for enlargement process with Albania, Northern Macedonia

French President Emmanuel Macron declared before his meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic in Paris today that he wants the May summit in Zagreb to be successful and that changes in the methodology of the negotiations were a prerequisite for opening negotiations with candidate countries.

I join your efforts so that the summit in Zagreb achieves unity in May and that it is a success for Europe. France has proposed a new methodology for the enlargement process, so that it is not just a bureaucratic process, but a political one, which can accelerate and contain conditions and also concrete benefits for candidate countries“, said Macron, who along with Prime Minister Plenkovic, issued a press release for before the meeting in Elze.

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The two leaders will discuss the framework of negotiations on future relations between the European Union and Great Britain, negotiations on the new multi-year financial framework, preparations for Europe's future conference and the EU-South East Europe Summit, to be held in Zagreb in May. In this context, the two officials will discuss further expansion of the Union.

With the chairmanship of the EU Council's rotating presidency on January 1st, Croatia wants to unblock the process because it considers there is no alternative to the European prospects of Southeast European countries.

“I am pleased that President Macro expressed optimism about the success of the Zagreb summit. This meeting is extremely important to us. It is in our interest that the states will be stable and implementing economic and social reforms”, Prime Minister Plenkovic said. / A T S/