Macedonia, Albania Hail EU Approval for Accession Talks

Macedonian and Albanian leaders on Wednesday welcomed the decision by European ministers to give a conditional green light to the start of their EU accession talks.

"There will be sweat, tears and many disappointments but we will succeed!" Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov wrote on Facebook.

"Now we will climb a mountain road, narrow and steep, marred by rain and ghastly wind, but we will succeed," he added.

Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said it was great news for the country and offered a major "motivation" for achieving a "European Macedonia".

After a long debate at Tuesday's meeting in Luxembourg among the bloc's European affairs ministers, it was decided that Albania and Macedonia's EU accession talks will start in June next year, depending on certain conditions being fulfilled. 

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that "after 72 hours of stormy debate", the decision was a victory.

"This initial skirmish is won, and now the real battle begins," Rama wrote on Twitter.

Albania and Macedonia hope the decision will clear the way for approval by EU leaders at their summit on June 28-29.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said after the meeting that the decision was a "key signal to the region that progress is rewarded".

The decision was also "crucial for the EU's own credibility", Hahn wrote on Twitter.

While most EU member states supported opening the accession talks immediately, France and The Netherlands opposed the move, saying they first wanted to see Macedonia and Albania sustain their reforms.

The two countries were given several key conditions to meet before starting the talks.

They include judicial reforms, active investigations into and...