2019 will be a year when there will be no border between Kosovo and Albania, Albanian PM Edi Rama said in his New Year’s address. Also, he announced free movement between Macedonia and Albania in the near future. “I believe that the border between Albania and Kosovo will in the spring be according to the Schengen Agreement criterion. In the ...

At Thursday’s meeting in Skopje with PM Zoran Zaev, an Albanian delegation led by President Ilir Meta said it was grateful for the support at highest state level that Macedonia provided for Albanian Alphabet Day, as an event of exceptional importance in Albanians’ history. Extending congratulations on the holiday, Zaev stated that the marking of the important day from the ...

Minister of Defence Radmila Sekerinska on Friday in Zagreb took part in the US-Adriatic Charter Defence Ministerial, the first such meeting in which Macedonia – one of the founding countries of the initiative – participates after being invited to join NATO. Minister Sekerinska was congratulated on Macedonia’s NATO breakthrough by US Secretary of Defence James Mattis, and by the co-chairs ...

PM Zoran Zaev met Wednesday a delegation of the British Foreign Office, headed by the General Director for Political Affairs Richard Moor and the Manager of the Department for Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia in the West Balkans Sector Katherine Barns. “The support the United Kingdom gives us in our integrations in NATO and EU is an additional motivation for us ...

In an Interview for Deutsche Welle (DW), Macedonian PM Zoran Zaev says that as the EU opens its gates, Macedonia would “proudly walks through them”. “There is no other description for this decision: It is a historic one. We have a date for negotiations: June 2019. Until then, together with our friends and partners from the European Commission, we will ...

This is a good week for your country and for the Western Balkans. The EU ministers set out the path towards opening accession talks with Macedonia and with Albania in June 2019, and in just a few hours, I expect that the EU Heads of States will endorse this decision, European Council President Donald Tusk told a news conference in ...

Following the General Affairs Council’s conclusions on Tuesday for a conditional start of negotiations with Macedonia and Albania, the preparations for those talks will start, according to the EC. As spokesperson Margaritis Schinas stated on Wednesday, the EC is now starting the work on preparations and, as the Council’s conclusions say, will continue to support tangible and sustainable results, especially ...

“In our opinion, as long as the European Commission started and set a horizon this summer to launch formal negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, we will have to deliver the promise we made,” Greek FM Nikos Kotzias says in an interview with EURACTIV. He urges “all sides to understand that there are indeed problems with these countries; we have ...

According to the EC, in this year’s reports on Macedonia and Albania, a start of EU membership negotiations is recommended. The decision is in the hands of the EU Council, EC spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said on Friday. “The name agreement has been ratified by Parliament in Skopje. As you know, the whole process will be discussed at the General Affairs ...