EU: Time to begin membership talks for Albania, N Macedonia

By LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — The European Union is working hard to convince Bulgaria and North Macedonia to end their dispute and open the way for membership talks for Albania and North Macedonia. EU enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said such a delay was compromising the bloc’s security and trust. Bulgaria has blocked their EU talks from opening, demanding that North Macedonia recognizes an ethnic Bulgarian minority in its constitution but disputes that a Macedonian minority exists in Bulgaria. Since North Macedonia’s and Albania’s EU bids are linked and launching accession talks requires unanimous approval from EU nations, the Bulgarian veto has prevented both from moving forward.