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17 October 2019The veto of France blocks the start of accession negotiations with the EU and Albania and Northern Macedonia, questioning the whole process of European enlargement. The European Council, except for twists and turns, will therefore not be able to give the green light for the two Balkan countries despite a large majority of European partners favoring the recommendation formulated by the Commission.In addition to France, the Netherlands and Denmark are also holding back, but opposed only to Albania.
The repeated appeals by the Commission and the EU Parliament and the messages from Tirana and Skopje do not therefore seem to have had any effect on the French president, who takes the point and continues to ask to reform the entire EU decision-making machine first to give the enlargement greater credibility . Only then can Europe's doors be opened to new countries. A position that hides the need for Macron to keep internal populist forces in check.
The last card on the table to make the French president change his mind is Finland, which holds the EU presidency, with the so-called 'decoupling', the separation of the destinies of Albania and Northern Macedonia. Sacrificing Tirana and saving Skopje in the ultimate attempt not to destabilize the region. If the EU leaders do not give the green light to the negotiations "our government will be dead", the Macedonian prime minister Zoran Zaev warned.
But the option of dividing the destinies of the two countries does not seem to find favor with Paris, and also with some states like Italy, which would like a clear path for both. The setback would not be understood by Albanian and Macedonian citizens, warned the president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli. In the event of another postponement - it would be the third in two years - it will be up to the new EU Commission to keep the hopes of the Balkans alive, with the president-elect Ursula von der Leyen who says she is "firmly convinced" that Albania and Northern Macedonia "have done enormous efforts to approach European standards and deserve a positive signal ".