Anger over EU's 'historic mistake' on Skopje, Tirana

EUROPEAN UNION. EU leaders fail to agree to start negotiations on membership for North Macedonia and Albania. File photo shows EU flags on the day of Britain's newly elected prime minister Boris Johnson's debut in the House of Commons. Photo by Niklas Halle'n/AFP

Leaders were deadlocked after some 7 hours of heated backroom wrangling at a Brussels summit, with France alone in rejecting North Macedonia but joined by Denmark and the Netherlands in refusing Albania. North Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski urged his people to push on with reform despite the disappointment, while his Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov urged the EU to come clean about its true intentions.

Apart from France, all the other EU states accept that North Macedonia has made enough progress on reforms – including changing its name from Macedonia to appease Greece – to start talks. But diplomats suspect the French are playing tough for domestic political reasons linked to immigration, and there is frustration that Macron appears to be trying to move the goalposts.

Anger does not fully cover what people are feeling. This is a black day for Europe and its values! The ramifications of this refusal are disastrous for the future of Europe and more divisions are yet to come! The Balkans must not yeild despite this outrageous let down💙!🇦🇱🇲🇰🇽🇰

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