Accession of North Macedonia to the European Union

Last night, the German Bundestag voted on a resolution that unequivocally recognizes the Macedonian language, identity and culture, Thomas Hacker, an MP from the Free Democratic Party, told Deutsche Welle.

The resolution was introduced by the parliamentary groups of the three parties in the governing coalition - the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals.

The Assembly of Bulgaria discussed today the decision accepting the proposal of the French Presidency of the EU regarding the negotiating framework for North Macedonia and Albania.

A majority of 60.8% of Bulgarians are of the opinion that our country should support the membership of North Macedonia in the EU, but only on condition that our nearest neighbor quickly implements the agreement it has with Bulgaria.

This is shown by the data from a national representative survey of Gallup International Balkan.

France's opposition to the EU starting accession talks with North Macedonia has raised questions about the likely impact on its landmark agreement with Greece.

President Klaus Iohannis maintained, in Brussels, on the occasion of the meeting of the European Council, the necessity of adopting without delay the decision to open accession negotiations with Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia, mentioning that a positive decision in this sense would have a strategic significance for the 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.

North Macedonia expects to get a date for the start of EU accession talks in October and is worried the Balkans region would be discouraged about reform if discussions do not begin, its foreign minister said on Tuesday.

North Macedonia should start membership negotiations to join the European Union, the European Commission formally recommended on Wednesday.

The recommendation followed a meeting of the Commission in Brussels, said Johannes Hahn, the EU commissioner in change of enlargement on Twitter. EU governments must agree to allow talks to start.

Northern Macedonia expects to receive a green light from the European Commission on the date of launching negotiations with the EU, reported NOVA TV. 

The European Commission (EC) will recommend opening accession talks for full membership of northern Macedonia and Albania by the end of May, reiterated EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn, who until now has only expressed confidence that this will happen.