European Council failed to agree on whether to open accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia

Despite the huge majority of support of the member states for the third time in 16 months, the European Council failed to agree on whether to open accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia. This is a very disporting decision that could have the consequences of a historic mistake. We are not able to deliver on what we have promised several times already and this failure to move forward with the membership talks could undermine the EU credibility and destabilize the Western Balkans. Moreover, following the setback, the prime minister of North Macedonia has called snap elections, a move that could lead to EU losing one of its biggest allies in the region.