LOCAL PRESS

Dacic: Pristina’s behavior doesn’t give optimism for continuing dialogue (RTS/Tanjug/Beta)

The messages coming from Pristina show that they do not care about the dialogue anymore, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Sunday, adding that if Pristina continues behaving this way, Serbia is not optimistic about continuing the talks. “Their unilateral acts have shown that Pristina is the main factor of instability. Filing criminal charges against Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Kurti’s recent statements – those represent a clear indication that they are not interested in the dialogue and reaching a compromise,” Dacic said. When asked whether he expects any other country to withdraw its recognition of Kosovo as an independent state, Dacic said Serbia will continue its policy and that a large number of countries are now figuring out that their decision on granting Kosovo recognition was premature. “In order for anything to be passed in the UN, 97 votes are necessary. We must ensure that Kosovo does not have that,” he said. “These countries have similar problems as Serbia, regarding their  territorial integrity and sovereignty, and state they will support a compromise solution that is reached and that during that time they will withdraw or suspend the earlier passed decisions,” said Dacic. According to him, these countries are facing enormous pressures, and gave as an example that the President of Nauru was called the following day after the note on withdrawal by the US Ambassador to Australia who was interested in that procedure. “The US in this world crisis is interested in whether Nauru recognizes Kosovo or not, but they are allowed to do this, but when we call we are not supposed to, well, it will not be so. I am grateful to President Vucic for giving the instruction to work on withdrawals of recognitions, because this is of huge state and national interest,” said Dacic.

Djuric: Albanian politicians’ careers built on lies (Tanjug)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric said that Pristina politicians – Hashim Thaci, Ramush Haradinaj, Vlora Citaku and Bexhet Pacoli – are trying to justify the verdict passed against Ivan Todosijevic, because their whole careers are built on lies. This was Djuric’s response to the strong reactions of Pristina politicians to a statement made by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who said it was terrifying that former Kosovo Minister of Administration and Local Self-Government Ivan Todosijevic was sentenced to two years in prison because he said the 1999 crime in Racak was a fabrication. In a press release, Djuric said that nothing unites Albanian political leaders like their hatred of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, because he is unwaveringly strikes at the foundations of the false Kosovo statehood, which rests on chauvinism, fabrications and fiction. “A lie cannot be imposed as the truth by force even if it is spoken a thousand times, because we, as a people, will unanimously stand in defense of the truth each one of those thousand times – although, those individuals among us who call themselves the opposition are silent because they prefer the lies of the Pristina chauvinists over Vucic’s truth,” said Djuric. He assessed that Todosijevic was punished drastically for saying something that has been confirmed by both domestic judicial authorities and international forensic experts, while his only fault is that he did not bow his head down and allow the Serb people to be accused of things they did not do. “Each time Vucic will stand up for justice and those people who are ready to expose themselves to inconvenience and risk in order to defend their right to speak the truth,” said Djuric.

Petronijevic: Verdict to Todosijevic is a performance of the Kosovo judiciary (RTS)

Attorney Goran Petronijevic told Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) on Saturday that nothing should surprise us when it comes to the judiciary in Pristina. “Pristina is persistently trying to imitate the judiciary, trying to demonstrate that it is a state, while the judicial system and judicial authority are one of the elements of statehood,” says Petronijevic. According to him, they are doing this very clumsily and this verdict of the Basic Court in Pristina to Ivan Todosijevic to two years in prison shows they shot themselves in the foot. “This is a completely impermissible way of qualifying a verbal presentation of former minister Ivan Todosijevic, who said the truth that the entire world knows – that Racak was staged,” said Petronijevic. Speaking of the fact that Racak is not in one single verdict of The Hague Tribunal, Petronijevic underlines that everything that is being done in Kosovo is planned in some other center, such as Washington. It used to be Brussels that was a mediator with Washington, and now it is directly Washington, says Petronijevic. “Everything that is occurring in Kosovo and Metohija is in the context of the US plan for resolving problems in Kosovo. Everything that is being stated in Pristina aims at weakening Serbia’s position and the Belgrade negotiators in the further course of negotiations,” assesses Petronijevic.

Lawsuit against Vucic is an attempt of an exit strategy

Petronijevic sees the lawsuit against President Aleksandar Vucic over the statement that the massacre in Racak is William Walker’s fabrication, as an attempt of an exit strategy – sue anyone who voices what we all know is the truth. “I advise every Serb from Kosovo to repeat hundred times every day – ‘Racak is a lie’. Then we will see whether they will process all Serbs who voice this or those who speak about the case – such as experts, politicians or journalists towards demasking Pristina’s attempt to become a state.” Petronijevic opines that the indictments in the case of the murder of Oliver Ivanovic is yet another farce of Pristina that is trying to conceal its own crime by pointing the finger at someone else. “I am certain that Oliver Ivanovic bothered the most at this historical moment and that Pristina stands both behind the instructing party and the executor. I think one of the main motives is to point the finger at Belgrade and introduce discord between the authorities and the opposition,” says Petronijevic. As he says, the collateral damage will be those indicted who are in detention where they have spent almost one year without an indictment. “No new evidence has been presented over the past six months. Just before the expiry of the one-year deadline, an indictment was filed in a tearing hurry for some kind of concealment of a crime and for unprincipled work in the service,” notes Petronijevic.

He recalls that three more people who are on the run were identified as organizers of the criminal group that was established in 2011. “That year there were clashes and the burning of administrative crossings. If they have in mind that act of resistance for preventing of seizing of northern Kosovo and Metohija, then the entire Serb people in northern Kosovo and Metohija represents an organized criminal group,” says Petronijevic. According to him, no cause-and-effect network exists between those designated as leaders of a criminal group and the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, especially not those who are designated as aides. Asked whether all of Pristina’s moves have to do with the political moment there, Petronijevic points out that the power of Albanian politicians is being over-estimated. “It depends from Washington when the government and in what format will be formed,” adds Petronijevic. He stresses that the Serbs should be interested in this government to immediately abolish taxes, to implement fully the Brussels agreement and to form the Community of Serb Municipalities and enable conditions for the return of expellees.

Government proposes members of Supervisory Board for monitoring pre-election activities (Tanjug)

The Serbian government adopted on Friday a Conclusion proposing to the National Assembly the members of the Supervisory Board for conducting general oversight of the procedures of political parties, candidates and the media during electoral activities. The members of the Supervisory Board will be in charge of monitoring pre-election activities and pointing out any irregularities in the conduct of political parties, candidates and other participants in the election process. This body will control the work of the media in the implementation of the law relating to the provision of equal conditions for the representation of electoral candidates. It will also propose measures to respect the equality of candidates in presenting their programs and will address the public when it is necessary to protect the moral integrity of the candidates’ personality. The Supervisory Board is obliged to warn about the actions of political parties, administrative bodies, candidates and mass media which interfere with the election campaign and jeopardize the equality of rights of all candidates. If one of the participants in the election campaign with his or her conduct calls for violence, spreads national, religious or racial hatred or incites gender inequality, the Supervisory Board will immediately initiate proceedings against that candidate before the competent state bodies.

EU, Serbia to open chapter on free flow of capital on 10 December (Beta)

The European Union has decided to open another chapter in its membership negotiations with Serbia — one dealing with the free flow of capital, which is significant to building economic ties and European investment in the Serbian economy. Beta learned this from EU Council of Ministers officials in Brussels, who said the decision to open a new chapter in talks with Serbia was agreed at a session of the committee of ambassadors from permanent representatives to the EU and the enlargement working group. The chapter on the free flow of capital will be opened at an EU-Serbia inter-governmental conference, on the sidelines of an EU foreign ministerial session in Brussels. Serbian government officials said that they were unhappy that just one chapter would be opened, stressing that Serbia was ready to open several more. Sources in Brussels believe that, at this time, an agreement on opening multiple chapters was unlikely in light of the fact that EU bodies are facing a fundamental discussion of proposals to change the “methodology” of the enlargement process, with a view to making it much more efficient and tangible for citizens in the region, in particular at the request of France and several other EU members.

REGIONAL PRESS

Dodik: Program of Reforms is not secret document, many people saw it, including certain members of RS opposition (Vecerji list)

Serb member of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency Milorad Dodik stated that Program of Reforms of B&H will be submitted to Republika Srpska (RS) parliament, before it is sent to NATO HQ in Brussels. “I said that I will propose Program of Reforms to the RS parliament before it is sent to NATO HQ. It is said that this document will be sent only after the B&H Council of Ministers is appointed. This has not been done and this is why it was said to hold on with the document, because it is still unknown whether the new B&H CoM will be appointed and when,” said Dodik. He added that Program of Reforms is not a secret document and many people have already saw the content of the document, including certain members of the opposition in the RS, whom he himself submitted with this document. “The thing is that we took practice from Serbia and six countries, EU members that are not members of NATO, as well as six countries whose territory belongs to Europe, but they are neither EU nor NATO members. Every single country has some form of cooperation with NATO and Serbia has it as well. Program of Reforms does not surpass what Serbia already has,” said Dodik. He stressed that this Program does not say that this is Annual National Program or that this is activation of Membership Action Plan, but it clearly reads that this document does not stipulate NATO membership. “Literary this means that this path is in standstill and that we could not secure anything more when it comes to the RS. I think that Reform Agenda asserts the policy of military neutrality. On the other side, there are those in B&H who wish B&H’s integration to NATO. No decision on integration has been reached and I think that the word integration is not even mentioned,” said Dodik. He does not question the EU path of B&H, even though he warned that conditions for candidates today are much more rigorous than before and noted that today 16 out of 28 member states could not pass the membership procedure. Dodik noted that B&H needs to continue the EU integration, but it would be good to analyze how useful this is and to adjust moving on this path to its own needs and not only projections and plans imposed from aside.

Tegeltija to continue consultations with political parties on formation of future B&H CoM (RTRS)

Chairman of the B&H Council of Ministers (CoM) Zoran Tegeltija (SNSD) will continue his consultations with political parties on formation of the future B&H CoM on Monday. The SNSD Executive Committee has already confirmed that SNSD officials Stasa Kosarac and Vojin Mitrovic will be nominated for the ministerial posts in the B&H CoM, while SNSD’s Republika Srpska (RS)-based coalition partners DNS and SP RS expect that their personnel will also be included in the B&H CoM’s future convocation. In a phone statement to RTRS, Mitrovic said: “The SNSD Executive Committee confirmed that Stasa Kosarac will be nominated to the post of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, while I will be nominated to the post of the Minister of Transport and Communications. That is all I can say at this moment.” Speaking for RTRS, Tegeltija explained that SNSD has consulted its coalition partners with regard to the candidates for the future B&H CoM and that they reached framework agreements, noting that this makes his consultations and work on formation of the B&H CoM a lot easier. However, Tegeltija noted that the political parties are yet to present the official names. “I started the process of consultations immediately after my verification in the B&H House of Representatives (HoR). As expected, I started the consultations with the biggest party in the RS, the party that nominated me in the first place,” Tegeltija specified. Tegeltija noted that the SNSD Executive Committee has passed its decision, while he will continue the consultations with the other political entities as of Monday. Tegeltija stressed that he already completed the consultations with HDZ B&H. In addition, DNS and SP RS expect to obtain some of the posts in the CoM and the current situation leaves them with a possibility for appointment to the posts of the Minister for Refugees and Displaced Persons and to three posts of Deputy Ministers. DNS leader Marko Pavic stated: “We are yet to see how things will go. There has been no final offer but we seek one ministerial post.” SP RS leader Petar Djokic told RTRS that SNSD needs to understand SP RS’ expectations since they are coalition partners that jointly achieved the election victory in the general elections. SNSD President Milorad Dodik said that the position of the Minister for Refugees and three positions of Deputy Ministers will be filled in agreement with SNSD’s coalition partners.

Radoncic claims that he had to accept offer to cooperate with SDA amid difficult situation in B&H (Face TV)

SBB B&H leader and delegate in the House of Peoples of B&H (B&H HoP) Fahrudin Radoncic, asked to comment on the relations between SBB B&H and SDA, as well as his personal relations with SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic, said that political stage, especially during the election campaign, can push anyone into disregarding their own moral standard and public discourse and he is not justifying his previous insulting statements about Izetbegovic but he made those shortly after “terrible election campaign that went below the waist in terms of low blows”. He stressed that he did not have much room for maneuvering and he had to accept SDA’s offer because B&H is currently in a very difficult situation where forces in favor of separatism are growing stronger, SNSD leader Milorad Dodik is threatening with Republika Srpska (RS)’ secession from B&H, the migrant crisis is intensifying, discouraging messages are coming from the EU, reputation of Bosniaks and Muslims is dented, the country’s economy is stagnating and internal political relations are very bad. According to Radoncic, the fact that SDA has moved from accusing SBB B&H of a treason to recognizing SBB B&H as an important part of pro-Bosnian political bloc brings small personal satisfaction while he, Izetbegovic and DF leader (and Croat member of the Presidency of B&H) Zeljko Komsic had to be tolerant and move on from past conflicts due to strategic reasons. Radoncic stated that “SBB B&H has an exceptional mediational capacity” and it could act as a cohesive between SDA, HDZ B&H and SNSD although SBB B&H would be better off as an opposition party and not getting involved in conflicts with other parties. He argued that possible appointment as the Minister of Security of B&H would take away his time and dedication to SBB B&H and he might be the only party leader to be appointed as a state minister but adding nonetheless that he is closer to accepting the nomination for the Minister of Security than not. He underlined that he is not implying anything regarding the appointment as he was disgustedly and primitively indicted shortly before his first appointment as the Minister of Security but any such attempt now would terminate professional careers of those within “judicial and law enforcement mafia” which rigged the indictment against him. He stressed that he is not familiar with the contents of the Program for Reforms of B&H but he is not particularly interested in it or worried because he is firm believer in “patriotism of Zeljko Komsic and (Bosniak member of the Presidency of B&H) Sefik Dzaferovic and Dodik’s common sense”. He deems that there is no reason for distrust among the citizens because the Program was unanimously adopted with coordination of NATO Quint and experts from NATO.

He agreed that Dodik has been given enough instruments of power to destroy B&H but said that he expects a change of narrative and shift of focus towards the economy and infrastructure as announced by newly appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of B&H (B&H CoM) Zoran Tegeltija. Radoncic noted that B&H cannot be blocked after the formation of the B&H CoM as much as it was in the past 14 months while he and all other serious Bosniak politicians would surely prevent any attempt of secession or dissolution of B&H.

Diplomatic offensive on Mostar continues; SBB, SDP, SDA welcome IC engagement and US proposals (Dnevni avaz)

Dnevi avaz noted that foreigners and citizens of City of Mostar are the only ones who wonder how to restore democracy to Mostar, City where elections have not been held for a decade and where situation seems to be set in stone. However, daily argues that representatives of Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities are not giving up and they are paying regular visits to Mostar, speaking to political representatives, organizing panel discussions, etc. Further on, the Congress recently presented some ideas for solution, but none of its was an adequate solution. Author noted that even the High Representative Valentin Inzko has not offered anything new after the session of Peace Implementation Council’s, but his words that there is an idea of the OHR mediating the talks between HDZ Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) and SDA representatives, which would start next week, raised certain hope among the citizens. Daily further reminded that this announcement followed the meeting where US Special Representative for the Western Balkans Matthew Palmer, US Ambassador to B&H Eric Nelson, Head of the EU Delegation to B&H Johann Sattler, Inzko, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH Kathleen Kavalec and Chargé d’Affairs at the UK Embassy to B&H Ruth Wiseman met with leader of SDA Bakir Izetbegovic and leader of HDZ B&H Dragan Covic discussing the urgency of holding of elections in Mostar. According to the author, this meeting proves that “diplomatic offensive on Mostar” lasts for quite some time and the US diplomats took the matter into their own hands and offered a fluid and realistic solution with a concept to get the stances of SDA and HDZ B&H closer. According to the daily, until now this was only possible with mediation by side of SBB B&H and daily learns that harmonized proposal of nine political parties, based on the SBB B&H’s ideas, will be used as a starting point. Also, daily learns from diplomatic sources, that the solution can be through the law at higher level and it will be insisted that Mostar has to be outside the package of any changes of Election Law. President of SBB B&H Board Mostar Anel Kljako supported initiative of the US Administration, arguing that in his opinion this is the only way to have elections in Mostar, while all other initiatives are insufficient and barren. President of SDP Mostar, Arman Zalihic stressed that ideas of the CoE are useful, but priority has to be on restoring of representation democracy in the City. This is why, Zilihic noted, he believes that US initiative will produce results. SDA Mostar Board welcomed and supported the new initiatives of international community officials and including of them to attempts to solve crisis in Mostar. SDA underlines importance of OHR’s role and underlines that it is important that PIC clearly underlined that Mostar has to stay integral and that issue of elections in Mostar must not be brought in connection with other election issues.

Picula: B&H should be focused on implementing needed reforms (Oslobodjenje)

Rapporteur for Recommendations on Western Balkans ahead of Zagreb Summit Tonino Picula commented the new policy of French President Emmanuel Macron towards the EU enlargement process, and said that this new policy is going to completely change the whole process, and it will likely create new problems, especially with Montenegro and Serbia, as they are far ahead in the negotiation process in accordance with the current rules. “New EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Oliver Varhelyi has pointed out he expects at least one country to be ready to become an EU member by the end of his five-year mandate.” Picula went on to say that the current integration model is better, and it opens access to the European funds. “The Summit in Zagreb in May is a big chance to strengthen guarantees towards the Western Balkans and to express new momentum in the enlargement policy. Also, I must point out that the discussions on the French non-paper must not halt the process as such, and the countries should be evaluated independently, based on their achievements,” he said. Asked to comment the statements of President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen, Picula said that the EU leadership is aware of the importance of the enlargement process for the security and the convincing foreign policy, which is why she pointed out the importance of integration of the Western Balkans. “It is a strong message, and a signal that Germany with its EC President is planning to continue with its foreign policy stances and priorities… Certainly, important decisions in the EU are not being passed without the influence of its strongest members, but final decisions are made in the Council with 27 members.” Picula commented his new mandate and tasks, and said that as Coordinator of the Group of Socialists and Democrats, he is going to be involved in creating of the foreign policy of the EU, which is supposed to confirm the EU’s role as a global smart-power player: “Enlargement is a smart solution for the EU, because it would decrease tensions on its borders and prevent some other big powers from generating instability through its representatives in the neighboring countries. What the EU truly needs is a proof it is able to deal with big problems of our continent in 21st century… Luckily, there are politicians that are aware of that.” Asked about his plans to offer a set of recommendations for Albania and North Macedonia, Picula said that he wants these recommendations to help the two countries make progress in this stalled process. He went on to say that those who are against the enlargement in the EU are very well aware of the consequences of their actions, but they are focused on their voters in their own countries.

In conclusion, Picula commented the process of authority formation in B&H and the issue of NATO integration, and he said: “Process of authority formation in B&H is chronically long-term one because of complex, but also obsolete political system. Regardless of those conditions, I call on B&H politicians to finally reach an agreement, because time is non-renewable resource at this moment. As the time passes, dysfunctionality of the Dayton Peace Agreement is cementing the power relations and increases the pressure of the political elites on decreasing economic resources in B&H. The reforms should be implemented for the betterment of one’s country, not because of future EU and NATO membership, and for long-term political stability, security and economic development… I maintain my assessment that B&H cannot complete transition into completely functional country of equal citizens and peoples unless it decides to follow the principles of equality, emancipation, subsidiarity and federalism.”

It’s not good to change rules mid-game, Fayon says (Dan)

It’s not good to change the methodology for acceding the European Union (EU) once a country has deeply entered the negotiation process, the European MP, Tanya Fayon, said. In an interview for Dan daily, she told that now it’s very important how the whole enlargement process is going to continue, assessing that the France’s proposal might slowdown the process. “France’s proposal might be just one of numerous ideas but it can slowdown the whole process. I’m not sure the intention is sincere, as the European perspective was mentioned only once and the accession to European policies and funds was limited. France’s suggestion is not the best one,” Fayon assessed. The European Commission, EC, and the group of socialists and democrats, according to her, are preparing their own proposal for the enlargement model, which will speed up the whole process. She stressed that opening and closing chapters are not enough, as this is not applicable in all countries. Fayon continued: “If the methodology changes, that wouldn’t be good, as the EU has already lost credibility for that. If there will be some changes, then the countries that have already made some progress must not take a step back.”

VMRO maintains a solid lead over SDSM in the latest IPIS poll (Republika)

An IPIS poll conducted in early December shows VMRO-DPMNE with a solid lead over SDSM with 21.4 percent against 17.5 percent of the ruling party. The only thing keeping SDSM in the game is the ethnic Albanian vote as VMRO-DPMNE dominates the Macedonian voters with 28.1 percent compared to 20.3 percent. SDSM has 7.4 percent support among ethnic Albanians.

The poll shows that there are significant portions of the population who would rather not state their affiliation (14.7 percent), who do not support any party (22.9 percent) and who have not made up their minds (12.5 percent). DUI leads among the ethnic Albanian parties with 4.9 percent of the vote, followed by the Alliance of Albanians with 3.2 percent, BESA with 1.3 percent and Alternative with 1.4 percent. Early general elections are scheduled for 12 April.

Pendarovski says he’s not certain elections will take place in April, as planned (Republika)

President Stevo Pendarovski told the press that he is not certain elections will take place on 12 April next year, as the major parties agreed at the crisis meeting organized by Pendarovski after Macedonia was not given the date to open EU accession talks. A number of top officials from the ruling SDSM party, which is down in the polls, said that the elections may be postponed because of the issue with Spain not being able to ratify Macedonia’s NATO accession protocol in time. “I’m not convinced the elections will take place since it is not up to me. The parliament is dissolved with 61 votes in favor and it depends on when these votes will be found,” Pendarovski said. The parliament is supposed to dissolve on February 11th so that elections could be held on 12 April. The opposition VMRO-DPMNE party proposed that Macedonia pre-ratifies the NATO accession protocol without waiting on Spain, in order to avoid delays on end if the Spanish ratification happens between 11 February and 12 April, when Macedonia will not have a parliament. Pendarovski said that he is fine with this option, but the PM Zoran Zaev government has not advanced the proposal forward, which allows it to keep the option of postponing the elections on the pretext of NATO ratification.

Albanian parties reject the ruling of the Venice Commission (Republika)

Three parties representing ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, BESA, the Alliance of Albanians and Alternative, said that they will not accept the ruling of the Venice Commission which found significant problems with the law on the use of the Albanian language in Macedonia.

Alliance of Albanians official Arben Taravari said that the law should never have been sent to the Commission to get its opinion and insists that Albanians should not be treated as an ethnic minority in Macedonia. BESA leader Bilal Kasami said that the Albanian language needs to be added to the Macedonian Constitution as an official language, and that this should become a request of all Albanian parties. Alternative also calls for additional official use of the Albanian language, beyond what was provided in the law. The Commission strongly objected to the way in which the law was adopted, its lack of provisions for other minority groups and the complications it will cause while expanding the official use of the Albanian language in parts of Macedonia with little to no ethnic Albanians.

Albania will receive the presidency of OSCE for 2020 (Radio Tirana)

PM Edi Rama went to Bratislava to receive the OSCE Presidency after which he went to Turkey for a conference organized by Turkish President Erdogan with donors for Albania. “Albania will take over the OSCE presidency and I have to go to Bratislava. Then I go to Istanbul for the big meeting that the president has organized with donors and businessmen, as we are preparing for the Northeast region donors conference,” said PM Rama.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

Athens takes lead to ensure Western Balkans EU path (EurActiv, by Sarantis Michalopoulos, 9 December 2019)

The Greek government is determined to take all necessary initiatives to ensure that the Western Balkan region’s EU ambition will become a reality soon, the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias has said. Dendias organised a breakfast meeting in Brussels on Monday (9 December), which was attended by more than twenty EU counterparts, but also Albania’s Gent Cakaj and North Macedonia’s Nikola Dimitrov. “It’s been a useful first opportunity for the next steps after the October Council,” Dendias said, referring to the EU summit which failed to give the green light to Albania and North Macedonia to open EU accession talks. But he stressed there is a need to keep the two countries’ European perspective on top of the agenda. “Greece is the oldest EU country in the region. It is a key factor in the stability and promotion of cooperation and will continue to take concrete initiatives in this direction,” Dendias added, emphasising that the objective is a positive result “possibly next March”. At the October Council, France, the Netherlands and Denmark opposed the start of EU accession talks with Tirana and Skopje. In a subsequent interview with Economist, French President Emmanuel Macron made it clear that the EU needed to reform its membership procedures, which he said were “no longer fit for purpose”. “I don’t want any further new members until we’ve reformed the European Union itself,” he said in the interview. “In my opinion, that’s an honest and indispensable prerequisite.” The informal French proposal envisages seven points of gradual convergence – from the rule of law to education, economy and internal market. The main opposition in October was basically against Tirana and not Skopje. However, diplomatic sources told EURACTIV that in Monday’s meeting, the Netherlands and Denmark took a step back in their objections against Albania. The same sources said it is highly likely that an additional clause to the case of Albania will be added in order to unlock the EU accession talks. Asked if there is a possibility to “decouple” those two countries in order to open North Macedonia’s EU talks, while addressing Albania at a later stage, a diplomat said this possibility is always an option but it would not be helpful for any EU member states or the wider Balkan region.

French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian did not attend the meeting and, according to sources, was not scheduled to attend the foreign affairs council later today. North Macedonia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nikolai Dimitrov said his country would not fall into the “trap of victimisation” or blame anyone. “We will continue to produce positive news, both in the reforms back home and in good relations with all our neighbors, and we will make it impossible for all member states to say no again in the coming months,” he added. Referring to the French proposals to reform the EU accession process, Bulgarian foreign minister Ekaterina Zakharieva said most ministers underlined that they were good proposals but there are also some disagreements that need further talks. However, she underlined that the accession negotiations did not need to be postponed as the EU negotiates the accession framework. “These processes can be parallel. We do not have to wait for the debate on the new framework to be completed,” she said. Croatia’s EU presidency plans a major EU-Western Balkans summit in Zagreb in May and proponents of enlargement believe the process would be unlocked  either then, or before the summit, possibly at an EU Council in March. Greece is one of the main advocates of the bloc’s enlargement to the Western Balkans. In 2003, it organised a Thessaloniki summit in which EU leaders agreed on giving the region a clear European perspective. However, since then, only Croatia has managed to join the EU  while Serbia and Montenegro have started accession talks.