Rama Announces He Will Seek Separation of Countries on Road to EU

“Narrow-mindedness and nationalist interests in some member states prevail over the vision of a united Europe,” Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa shared his experiences from the six-month Slovenian presidency regarding enlargement. In an interview with Slovenian national television, Jansa indirectly acknowledged European hypocrisy towards the Western Balkans and, as he assessed, opportunism in some key member states. “One of the leaders, I would not tell his name, and he comes from the core of the EU countries, in a debate he even said ‘why should we bring them into the EU, when they are cheap labour’. There is a certain dominance of some selfish, narrow-minded, I would say nationalist interests of some countries, which present themselves as something else,” said Jansa. Prime Minister Edi Rama said that Tirana does not intend to depend indefinitely on Sofia’s will. “If at the end of the French presidency, i.e. after the first six months of next year, Bulgaria decides to veto, we will demand to be separated from North Macedonia,” said Rama.