EU accession talks with Albania, N. Macedonia could open in weeks – official

The EU could open accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia within weeks, as both countries have made good progress in their preparations, the European Commission’s enlargement chief, Oliver Varhelyi, said on Thursday.

France, which blocked the opening of talks with Tirana and Skopje last October, indicated earlier in February that membership talks could start if the European Commission gave them a positive review in March. Varhelyi said that the Commission’s report, due to be released next week, was encouraging.

“I do hope to convince member states that they are ready and we should be ready to open negotiations,” Varhelyi said in Prague.

If allowed to go ahead with membership talks, approval would set the stage for a summit with EU leaders and all six western Balkan candidate countries – Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and North Macedonia – to be held in Zagreb in May, Reuters said. Membership talks usually take years to complete.