(ANSA) – BRUSSELS, JUL 18 – EU green light to accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, respectively 17 and 8 years after the recognition of the status of candidate countries.
According to sources of the Czech presidency, the agreement was reached during the meeting of the ambassadors of the 27 (Coreper). Albania and North Macedonia have been convened for tomorrow in Brussels for the intergovernmental conference that marks the opening of negotiations. “It is truly a historic moment”, underlined the representative of the Czech Republic in the EU, Edita Hrda.
The release of the impasse was made possible by the approval, by the Macedonian and Bulgarian Parliaments, of the French mediation proposal aimed at bringing down Sofia’s opposition to the advancement of the two dossiers due to an identity dispute with North Macedonia. In the next few hours, through the written procedure, the agreement reached in Coreper will be formalized.
Tomorrow morning, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, the head of the Albanian government, Edi Rama and the North Macedonian Prime Minister, Dimitar Kovacevski will arrive in Brussels. In the morning, the intergovernmental conference with North Macedonia will be held first and, subsequently, the one with Albania. The two meetings will be chaired by Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipvasky.
(ANSA).
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