SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
Foreign Ministers Heiko Maas (Germany), Augusto Santos Silva (Portugal), and Anze Logar (Slovenia) have promised to work hard following the failure of Skopje and Tirana to get a start of EU membership talks. “In March 2020, the Council agreed on opening accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania. The Council also endorsed a new enlargement methodology that will reinvigorate the accession process, making it more predictable and subject to stronger political steering. Under this enhanced methodology, we held the first political Intergovernmental Conferences with Montenegro and with Serbia during the Portuguese Presidency of the Council. Our goal is to focus the efforts of both countries throughout the accession process on the rule of law, fundamental rights, the functioning of democratic institutions and public administration reform, as well as economic criteria. In a nutshell: on better living conditions for the population and stronger resilience against third countries’ influence. We are highly concerned that we have not yet been able to start accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, despite the fact that the Council decided to do so already in March 2020,” they say, among other things, in an opinion piece for Balkan Insight.
