Brussels, 25 September 2024 (MIA) - The Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union (COREPER) has decided that Albania will open Cluster 1 – “Fundamentals” of the accession negotiations with the European Union on October 15, a spokesperson from the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union told MIA on Thursday.

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

The decision for Albania to hold an intergovernmental conference with the EU on October 15 and begin negotiations on Cluster 1, means the country will be decoupled from North Macedonia on the European path.  

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 completed the screening process of the negotiations. The rest of the negotiations were then halted.  

Albania’s membership bid was blocked when Greece accused Tirana of violating the principles of rule of law. This came after the detainment in May 2023 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.

In North Macedonia’s case, the negotiating framework adopted in July 2022 obliges the country to adopt amendments that would add other ethnicities to its Constitution, including the members of the Bulgarian community, before it can begin the next stage of negotiations, i.e., open clusters.

Past conclusions adopted by the Council of the European Union urged the country to accelerate the implementation of the amendments. “The European Union is ready to complete the opening phase of the accession negotiations with North Macedonia as soon as it has implemented its commitment to complete the constitutional changes as referred to in the Council conclusions of 18 July 2022, in line with its internal procedures. The European Council calls on North Macedonia to accelerate the completion of these changes,” the Council said in its conclusions.

The country’s new Government promoted the idea of a so-called “French Proposal +” as a solution for the country’s European path that foresees a delayed implementation of the constitutional amendments. In other words, the amendments would be adopted before the official beginning of negotiations but would enter into force when negotiations conclude.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski, who accompanied Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski on a working visit to Brussels last week, told MIA that the issue was discussed with representatives of the European Union and that the dialogue would continue. 

Photo: MIA Archive