Skopje

EU leaders have failed to agree to launch accession talks with northern Macedonia and Albania, NOVA TV reported.

The decision was not reached despite all night long dramatic discussion, and despite the warnings that turning Tirana and Skopje away would tarnish the EU's reputation and could risk inflaming the Western Balkans region.

Diplomatic sources say that EU leaders struggled past midnight in a tense debate to reach common conclusions in a bland statement offering encouragement to the candidate countries, and yet postponing a formal decision for accession talks.

EU leaders have failed to agree to launch accession talks with northern Macedonia and Albania. A major opponent of this idea is French President President Emmanuel Macron. He urges the Community to reform its membership rules before the accession of new Member States.

Namely, according to the Pristina based Gazeta Blic daily, the European Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations believes that this would most affect the relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

SYRIZA opposition chief Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday urged the European Commission to impose stiff sanctions on Turkey over its hydrocarbon drilling off the coast of Cyprus and to open accession talks with North Macedonia.

EU Ministers for EU Affairs had to give green light today in Luxembourg to start the negotiation process with the two Balkan countries. However, Paris was strongly opposed.

Other countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark have demanded the separation of the two countries and the opening of negotiations with northern Macedonia only.

France stuck to its hard line against European Union membership talks for North Macedonia and Albania on Tuesday, setting up a showdown between French President Emmanuel Macron and fellow EU leaders later this week in Brussels.

High Hopes

At the end of September, the members of the German Bundestag overwhelmingly voted in support of setting a date for opening accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, even if, in the case of the former, there were some stiff conditions attached.

North Macedonia's Premier Zoran Zaev and SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras called on the European Union to set a date for the start of EU accession talks in October, during a meeting in Skopje on Monday afternoon.