After his official visit to Washington D.C., PM Edi Rama declared that the new U.S. administration is 100% in favor of the Open Balkan initiative.
Rama also declared that part of his discussions with US officials was the fact that in the upcoming months, we should expect new things when it comes to the Open Balkan initiative.
In addition, the Albanian prime minister said that there is still uncertainty when it comes to the issue of decoupling Albania and North Macedonia in the EU integration process. In order to start the first Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), Albania has to be separated from North Macedonia, or else, it will need to stand by and hope for the possibility of Bulgaria dropping its veto.
Bulgaria has been disputing North Macedonia’s right to its history and language for some time now – turning into an obstacle for Albania’s and North Macedonia’s EU negotiations.
Bulgaria is using its veto power thus blocking the process of negotiations between the EU and North Macedonia, which has blocked the process of accession for Albania as well.
Disputes around the origins of the Macedonian language, its history, and national identity as well as the right of Bulgarians living in North Macedonia have been amongst the main reasons leading up to Bulgaria’s decision to impose a veto against North Macedonia.
If Albanians end up being in favor of the country’s decoupling from North Macedonia – following the National Consultation Survey that is still underway – Rama said that this will serve as a stimulus to request then our decoupling from North Macedonia, if accession negotiations aren’t reached within France’s mandate in the European Presidency.
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