Once again, the Netherlands is expected to veto the EU accession negotiations for Albania.
Although Germany will propose a conditioned opening of the EU accession negotiations for Albania, the Dutch may still become an obstacle.
Top Channel reports that the stance held by the Netherlands’ has been confirmed by their Foreign Minister, Stef Blok, during a session of the Commission for European Matters.
During the discussions with the MPs, Blok declared that the stance of his country will be similar to the one held before summer, when it was underlined that there will be no negotiations for Albania unless the conditions of June 2018 are all met.
Block underlined that Skopje and Tirana must be trained separately in this process.
“The enlargement is still on the October agenda. I am happy to answer the questions, but there will be no surprises. Our stance will be the same as before summer. I believe that Northern Macedonia and Albania should be assessed independently because they are different countries, with different issues and different solutions. I have already shown that the progress of N.Macedonia is greater than Albania’s”, the Minister said.
“I think that Albania will be able to open the negotiations as soon as they meet the criteria, but this moment hasn’t arrived yet”, Blok said.
There has been a debate about whether the Netherlands will be the only one blocking Albania. Blok declared that it is up to each member to give its own opinion on enlargement.
“The last time that the Council decided on this matter, was one year ago. The Netherlands, France and Denmark were the states that held this position. It is now up to the states to show their stance”, the Dutch Minister said.
The Dutch Parliament passed a motion this June, urging the government to block the opening of Albania’s EU accession negotiations for 2019.
Minister Blok declared that Albania has not achieved any tangible result in the fight against corruption and organized crime and that the European Commission’s recommendation to open the accession negotiations is premature.
He added that Albania has not met the criteria for fighting organized crime and corruption.
Kevin Sinani
Top Channel
