Conclusions regarding the enlargement policy are yet to be agreed ahead of Tuesday’s ministerial meeting, the dispute between North Macedonia and Bulgaria, although one of the main obstacles, is not the only one.
EU member countries, like last year, are finding it hard to align conclusions on enlargement. If no conclusions are defined, this could be the second year in the row when the EU is failing to reach any agreement on the policy. This time, however, it is very likely that Slovenia’s EU presidency could present presidency conclusions and unveil which member countries support them, which was not the case last year. Namely, there were no conclusions adopted at all in December 2020, Brussels diplomats told the media.
Regarding the Skopje-Sofia dispute, Bulgaria during last week’s meeting insisted that Skopje has failed to meet the criteria required for the opening of negotiations. Neither the other 26 member countries nor the European Commission supported the position.
The option to decouple Albania and North Macedonia got slight if any support at all, a top EU diplomat has told MIA.
