Brussels, 26 September 2024 (MIA) - The Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union (COREPER) has given a green light to the formal opening of the first clusters of Albania's accession negotiations with European Union, decoupling it from North Macedonia on the EU path, Euractiv reports.

The European Union adopted a decision to couple the membership path of North Macedonia and Albania when it launched negotiations with the two countries in July 2022, after which both countries carried out the screening process of the negotiaitons. The rest of the negotiations were then halted – in North Macedonia’s case due to its failure to adopt the amendments to the Constitution, while Albania’s bid was blocked due to the detainment of an ethnic Greek candidate running for mayor in the Albanian city of Himare, Fredi Beleri, who was charged with trying to buy votes ahead of the elections. In June, Beleri was elected as a Greek MEP and was freed from prison to take his post in the European Parliament.

However, with the latest decision, according to Euractiv, Albania will now hold an intergovernmental conference with the EU on October 15, during which it will open Cluster 1 – Fundamentals which includes the chapters on Procurement, Statistics, Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, Justice, Freedom and Security and Financial Control.

“This is good news for Albania in its efforts to meet the requirements for advancing on its EU path, but it is a setback for North Macedonia, which once again fails to take a decisive step towards EU accession,” Euractiv adds. 

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