EU urges accession talks with N. Macedonia and Albania

An EU commissioner on Monday urged for accession negotiations to begin between the bloc and both North Macedonia and Albania next spring.

The remarks by Oliver Varhelyi, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, came after a breakfast in Brussels with the foreign ministers of North Macedonia and Albania.

Referring to France's opposition to membership talks for the countries last October, Varhelyi stressed that this mistake should be corrected.

"It seems that we should move ahead and correct the mistake that was committed in October and we should be able to start accession negotiations with both countries next spring," said Varhelyi.

In October, France opposed EU membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania, arguing that both countries needed to implement more reforms before talks could begin.