Bitterly divided EU leaders failed Friday to reach agreement on allowing Albania and North Macedonia to start talks to join the bloc, dealing a fresh blow to their membership hopes.

Summit talks ended without a decision despite seven hours of backroom haggling, with French President Emmanuel Macron leading opposition to the two Balkan states being given a date to begin the long process of accession negotiations.

France — where EU enlargement is a sensitive topic among the public — agues that the accession process needs reform and Skopje and Tirana should wait until this has happened.

The deadlock comes days after EU ministers hit a similar impasse at talks in Luxembourg — following two earlier delays by EU countries on making a decision.

Senior EU leaders and all member states barring France believe North Macedonia has made sufficient efforts for talks to start — including changing its name from Macedonia to appease Greece.

Albania by contrast has less support, with the Netherlands and Denmark joining France in voicing serious reservations about the progress it has made on reforms.

“There is a certain disappointment. We must admit we failed to reach consensus because three states refused to invite both countries to start negotiations,” Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda told reporters.

“Everybody admits that North Macedonia did a lot: it changed the country’s name, it changed its constitution and did everything to receive an invitation, so I think the absence of decision will have serious political consequences.”

source AFP