Tusk: Some EU memder-states are not ready for Albania, North Macedonia accession talks

European Council President Donald Tusk has said that the EU should launch accession talks with both North Macedonia and Albania, but warned there will be no quick decision.

“I personally believe that there can only be one decision: to launch the negotiations in line with the European Commission’s recommendations,” Tusk told a joint press conference with North Macedonia’s President Stevo Pendarovski in Brussels on June 12.

Tusk said the two Balkan states had done “everything that was expected” to move their EU membership bids forward, but he added that “not all member states are prepared to make the decision on opening negotiations in the coming days.”

Last month, the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, recommended that EU accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania begin as soon as possible, saying the two countries have “delivered on reforms.”

North Macedonia’s path to membership in both the EU and NATO was cleared after Skopje reached agreement with Greece over the former Yugoslav republic’s official name.