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Tirana Times (24 June 2021)

Bulgaria’s veto to the opening of accession talks for Macedonia and Albania further delays the integration process for the two Balkan states. In a press-conference, the Portuguese State Secretary for European Affairs Ana Paula Zacarias confirmed that at the moment  there will be no opening of accession negotiations and that the first intra-governmental conference will be further delayed due to the fact that Bulgaria did consent for the opening of the talks with Macedonia, in light of dispute between the states which relates to their shared history and the allegedly false interpretation of historical events, as well as an allegedly increasing anti-Bulgarian sentiment in Macedonia.

The latest move by the Bulgarian Ambassador to the EU has indirectly affected Albania, which must now patiently wait until the issue is resolved, even though every EU Member State gave Albania the green light, including France and the Netherlands, two states that were previously  opposed to this idea.

During an economic forum held in Skopje, the Albanian Prime-Minister and his Macedonian counterparty expressed their regrets for this latest development. Prime Minister Rama stated that Albania would focus on improving its economic performance and wellbeing, despite of the current problematic in Brussels. In a similar fashion, Prime-Minister Zaev stated that the two governments would focus on increasing regional cooperation and that he hoped that the EU would soon be able to resolve what he described as an internal issue.

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