Varhelyi: Increasingly Unlikely That Skopje and Tirana Will Start EU Talks This Year

Jerusalem, 3 December, 2020 (TPS) -- Brussels, 2 November 2020 (MIA) – It is becoming increasingly unlikely that the adoption of the negotiating frameworks and the start of the EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania will happen by the end of this year, said European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi on Wednesday.

Commissioner Varhelyi told a discussion on the 25th Dayton Accord anniversary the chances for this are small, although the European Commission and the German EU Presidency are still working with member-states in an attempt to find a solution for the start of the talks with Skopje and Tirana.

“I still have some hopes, but it is unfortunately increasingly unlikely that we will be able to adopt the negotiating frameworks this year,” said Varhelyi.

According to him, the region is making progress but there is a lot of work to be done on domestic reforms, regional cooperation and strengthening of economies.

The Commissioner added that regional cooperation and goodneighborly relations are key in the EU progress.

2020-12-02 22:15:30, from Ivan Kolekjevski