TIRANA, Oct 23 /ATA/- European Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johanes Hahn, said Tuesday in European Parliament’s plenary session on postponement of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia and the time has come for EU to take stock.
“At the last EC meeting, EU failed to deliver on the commitment to opening the accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia. The majority agreed except for some member countries unfortunately,” Hahn said thanking minister Tuppurainen for her personal perseverance, efforts to find a remedy a few days ago but as we all know were not successful.” He also thanked other Euro Deputies for all the efforts made.
“It was impossible to reach an agreement, it is a great disappointment. I am reiterating what I said in Luxembourg. We are moving down an endless road. Bear in mind that there was unanimity in one point, the Western Balkans needs courageous decisions,” Hahn said.
“After the failure of last week we need to take stock of the way how we will respond to questions: What is our support for the progress? What sort of encouragement do we give? What about our support towards those who took risks from political perspective? Hahn said.
“The least we owe to the Western Balkan countries is honesty. This is an enlargement policy written into the treaty, it is not a matter of being nice to our neighbors, it is about finishing a process of unification that has started long ago. It is a process of strategic importance,” he said.
“Impressive reforms have been made in Albania and North Macedonia, such as in justice system, fight against organized crime. I cannot keep thinking about Albania where reforms have been truly impressive. All these are based on the courage to overcome the barriers, conflicts of the past,” he said.
“It is our responsibility right now to be on the side of these countries, their citizens who are deeply disappointed. They have a right to feel very offended, yet they should maintain the momentum just as we will continue our efforts for Albania and North Macedonia,” Hahn concluded.
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