The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, sent letters to all French ambassadors to the countries of the European Union, asking them to work intensively to open negotiations with Albania and Northern Macedonia. writes Albanian Media Albanian Post.
The portal, according to his sources from the Elysee Palace, writes that Macron set two dates. The first date for resolving the issue between Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia is December 14, ie until then the two Balkan countries should reach an agreement on the Bulgarian veto on Northern Macedonia, which is an obstacle to opening negotiations for Albania as well, Sloboden Pecat writes.
The second date set by Macron is December 31. By the end of the year, according to the Albanian Post, the President of France had requested the opening of negotiations with Albania and Northern Macedonia.
The symbolism on December 14 is followed by a meeting of EU heads of state. If an agreement is reached by this date, then the Union will be able to determine the start of negotiations for Tirana and Skopje.
The French ambassadors to the EU expect an intensive agenda of meetings until December 14.
The Albanian Post adds in its analysis that this is one of the more concrete steps taken by an EU member state to open negotiations. The main reason for this push from official Paris is the fact that France takes over the presidency of the Union from January 1, 2022. Paris does not want to take on an old unresolved issue, according to the portal.
Macron has reportedly received approval for this initiative from the leaders of leading EU countries, including outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Albanian Post also writes that Northern Macedonia is now in a vague political situation. The Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced that he will resign from the position of Prime Minister, but this has not been officially done yet, and a vote of confidence in his Government is expected in the Parliament.
