Enlargement of the European Union

There is no reciprocity in this latter demand, despite repeated judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg calling on Bulgaria to recognise a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, which successive Bulgarian governments have ignored.

Brussels – Slovenia has produced a proposal to grant Bosnia-Herzegovina EU candidate status as early as at the EU summit next week. Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon will present it to her EU counterparts on Monday at a session of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has said he does not expect next week's EU summit to pave the way for his country to start EU membership talks, blaming Bulgaria, Politico reported today.

Thessaloniki – Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon attended a ministerial of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) in Thessaloniki on Friday, and held a number of bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Greece event. In the debate, Fajon noted the importance of a credible EU enlargement policy for the reform efforts of the Western Balkans.

"I will come to Sofia as often as necessary in order to reach a decision (lifting the Bulgarian veto on North Macedonia's membership in the EU) by the end of June, we have no time, the war has shown us how important the European integration is."

In its first year, the new government has fulfilled only of a few of the bold pledges it made about promoting reforms, political dialogue and progress on EU accession.

A failed attempt to topple the government has given it a fresh boost - but its long-term survival depends on success in delivering a start to EU accession talks.

The European Commission's annual progress reports for six Western Balkan countries who hope to become EU members - plus Turkey - were published on Tuesday, assessing their achievements and shortcomings noted during the period between June 2020 and June 2021.

North Macedonia 'makes progress in key areas'

As EU leaders gather for a summit on Wednesday on how to keep engaging with their Western Balkans neighbors, the bloc's once-successful enlargement policy faces an impasse, AP reported.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz pointed out today, before the EU-Western Balkans Summit on Brdo near Kranj, that the Western Balkans need a true and sincere European perspective.