The French President, Manuel Macron, had to explain his decision for blocking the EU accession negotiations for Northern Macedonia and Albania during his speech at the NATO Summit, in London.
“I accept to take the role of the bad guy on this matter, once again. It wasn’t France that was against the enlargement, and it’s not good hearing this. I take all the responsibility upon myself on this matter, because I think that we are not ready and the conditions weren’t met. I will explain you why”, Macron said.
“First of all, I think that the EU accession procedure is a very bureaucratic, confused and unreadable. It is irreversible but also inadequate for the countries in the negotiation phase. Ask Serbs if their lives change after they open one chapter of the negotiations. No. I fully recognize the efforts made by Northern Macedonia, and that was a courageous act. But before opening the accession negotiations we should reform our negotiating procedures, which should be individual and reversible. They should be more political and accompanied by direct investments in the strategic partnership phase”, Macron said.
He added that the purpose is to take the entire Balkan region in the EU and that Europe must invest in these countries.
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