After having solved the name issue with Greece, which for years held back the start of EU enlargement negotiations for North Macedonia, the country is now facing another dispute with its neighbour Bulgaria on language and history, reads an article published by The Brussels Times.
Good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation remain essential elements of the enlargement process, the European Commission has told the publication. “We encourage both sides to redouble their efforts to find a solution to the pending issues.”
“It is up to North Macedonia and Bulgaria to engage directly – the Commission will not facilitate the dialogue for them as it is doing between Serbia and Kosovo,” stressed the article.
According to progress reports on each candidate country, The Brussels Times noted, in the area of the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, progress has varied considerably over the last year. Only Albania and North Macedonia, the two countries that are eagerly waiting to start accession negotiations towards the end of this year, made “good progress.” Serbia and Montenegro, the only countries where negotiations are on-going, made no respectively limited progress in this area.
“The situation is even worse in all countries as regards the fight against corruption and respect of freedom of expression. The Western Balkans and Turkey continue to show ‘widespread corruption’ and no or limited progress when it comes to freedom of expression,” the news website added.
