In an interview for the Economist, the French President, Emanuel Macron, said that the EU needs to reform the accession procedures before opening the negotiations with Albania and Northern Macedonia.
“If we want a powerful Europe, it should move quickly and be more integrated. This doesn’t go along with opening the enlargement process right now”, Macron said.
“If we say that we will try, will invest, encourage businesses and invest for development, culture, and education, that would have sense. But it is absurd to open an entirely bureaucratic process”, Macron said.
“Ask the EU countries tomorrow if they want to open the door for Albania. Half of them will say “no”. They want to open the negotiations with Northern Macedonia, which is a small country that has changed its name, a truly historic achievement. They don’t scare anyone. The truth is that if we don’t open the negotiations to Albania as well, it would cause a terrible trauma in the region. If we humiliate Albania, the region would be destabilized in an irreversible way. That’s why we want to see Europe reform itself first”, Macron said.
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