Brussels, 26 September 2024 (MIA) - The European Commission looks forward to the start of negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia as soon as possible, said the European Commission’s Spokesperson on Enlargement, Neighborhood and International Partnerships, Ana Pisonero, regarding the decision of the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union (COREPER) to greenlight the start of Albania’s EU negotiations on the first cluster on October 15.

“Our position is very clear. The Commission looks forward to the start of negotiations on the Fundamentals cluster as soon as possible with Albania and with North Macedonia, once North Macedonia has met the relevant criteria that have been agreed by the Council,” Pisonero said in answer to a question about the Commission’s position on the decoupling of Tirana and Skopje on the EU accession path.

She added that the relevant criteria include the constitutional amendments that would add the Bulgarians to the country’s Constitution.

“The European Council called on North Macedonia to accelerate the implementation of these changes,” Pisonero said, adding that the EU member states are in charge of the decisions about the next steps in the accession process, and not the European Commission.

A spokesperson from the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union told MIA on Thursday, that COREPER has decided that Albania will open Cluster 1 – “Fundamentals” of the accession negotiations with the European Union on October 15.

“We can confirm that COREPER agreed to continue Albania’s EU accession process,” spokesperson Anna Atanaszov told MIA.

The decision means the country will be decoupled from North Macedonia on the European path. 

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