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ES ministrai suteikia žalią šviesą deryboms dėl narystės #Albania ir #FYROM pradėti

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EU countries say they will start accession negotiations with FYROM and Albania, pending further reforms, rašo Martinas Bankai.

This comes after talks on Tuesday (26 June) among the bloc's European affairs ministers in Luxembourg. Albania and FYROM hoped the decision would clear the way for approval by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels on Thursday (28 June).

The compromise emerged as the EU ministers found themselves deeply divided on the issues of migrant policy and enlargement, the latter because of rising populist and Eurosceptic sentiment.

Reacting to the news, Albania’s PM Edi Rama said that “after 72 hours of stormy debate, Albania made it to port: a date for EU talks to begin”.

He tweeted: “The results of our huge efforts finally led even the sceptics to accept that Albania and Macedonia are ready to negotiate. The initial skirmish is won and now the real battle begins.”

Rama has made several visits to Brussels in recent months in an effort to champion his country’s EU credentials.

A compromise emerged at the ministerial as the EU ministers found themselves deeply divided on the issues of migrant policy and enlargement, the latter because of rising populist and Eurosceptic sentiment.

As the French newspaper "Le Monde" put it: "The question posed by France and the Netherlands remains: Is the mere allusion to a possible green light for new memberships that would create a Europe with 29 members likely to fuel more populist discourse? In France, in any case, the right has so far been rather hostile to any enlargement and the whole debate on work has shown that public opinion has not yet completely digested the enlargements of 2007 (Bulgaria and Romania) and especially in 2004, when ten countries (including Poland and Hungary) joined the community at one go.

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"These waves, poorly prepared, have, in the opinion of many, contributed to many of the difficulties that the Union is experiencing today."  

Some member states have pushed to bring the six Western Balkan countries, including Albania, into the EU fold to bolster the bloc’s influence in the region. Germany's European affairs minister, Michael Roth, said that Albania and Macedonia have made "remarkable progress in the area of rule of law and the independence of the judiciary."

Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok acknowledged that both countries had made "important progress".

Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva of Bulgaria, which currently holds the EU presidency, said it was "an important day" for the two countries and "for the Western Balkans as a whole".

EU countries took a "strong position" signaling to countries in the Western Balkans that they had a "clear perspective toward the European Union," according to Austrian European Affairs Minister Gernot Blumel.

Albania and Macedonia were granted EU candidate status in 2014 and 2005, respectively. If they make sufficient progress towards reforms, the first talks can begin at the end of 2019, the ministers decided on Tuesday. An EU enlargement strategy had previously included a timeline for when these states could join the bloc: 2025.

A copy of the ministers’ conclusions, seen by this website, states: “The EU is determined to strengthen and intensify its engagement at all levels to support the region's political, economic and social transformation, including through increased assistance, based on tangible progress on the rule of law, as well as on socio-economic reforms, by the Western Balkans.”

It says: “In view of the above progress, in particular on the five key priorities, the Council agrees to respond positively to the above progress made by Albania and sets out the path towards opening the accession negotiations in June 2019.

“Accordingly, the Council underlines the critical need for Albania to further consolidate progress made on judicial reform in particular through the vetting, and to deliver further tangible results in the fight against corruption at all levels and in the fight against organised crime, in particular on the cultivation and trafficking of drugs, maintaining and deepening the current reform momentum.”

On possible Albanian accession to the block, the ministers’ stated that they “welcome Albania's steady progress in pursuing reforms related to the five key priorities: public administration reform, reform of the judiciary, fight against corruption, fight against organised crime and protection of human rights.”

The final draft of their joint statement said the council “encourages Albania to build on the progress so far and pursue intensively the justice reform.”

It goes on: “Council stresses the importance for Albania to further pursue tangible and sustainable results, including in the specific area of countering cultivation and trafficking of drugs.”

Ministers also call for “further tangible results in the fight against corruption at high level, as well as in dismantling organized criminal networks”.

They reiterate “the need for effective legislative and policy measures to reinforce the protection of human rights and anti-discrimination policies”.

The Commission is urged “to monitor closely the above reform efforts by Albania and will assess progress on the basis of the yearly Commission report”.

Earlier this week, EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn warned against delaying the start of membership talks with the two countries, stressing the importance of giving a "positive signal" to the Western Balkans region.

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