According to Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, the 27 member states gave Monday evening “their agreement to the opening of accession negotiations”.
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A new stage in view of the entry of Albania and North Macedonia into the European Union? Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Twitter on Monday July 18 that the 27 member states had given “their agreement to the opening of accession negotiations”. The Czech Republic chairs the Council of the EU, having taken over from France. “We have taken another important step towards bringing the Western Balkans closer to the EU”he added, after a meeting on this subject in Brussels.
Rada EU pod vedenim @EU2022_CZ právě souhlasila se zahájením přístupových rozhovorů s Albánií a Severní Makedonií!
Učinili jsme důležitý krok k dalšímu přibližování západního Balkánu k EU. Je to velký úspěch našeho předsednictví.
— Petr Fiala (@P_Fiala) July 18, 2022
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and his counterpart from North Macedonia Dimitar Kovacevski are expected in Brussels on Tuesday to formally open these negotiations which will take years.
The protocol will allow, among other things, Macedonian to become one of the official languages of the EU. Bulgaria was blocking the opening of negotiations until recently due to a dispute between the two countries over a long list of historical and linguistic issues.
North Macedonia gained EU candidate status nearly two decades ago, and has already had to overcome major differences with Greece to join NATO in March 2020.