Bundestag Votes in Support to Albania and North Macedonia

TIRANA, September 27

While Albania and North Macedonia are waiting for a date to start EU membership talks by 2019, the German Parliament gave the green light to both Balkan countries during a voting session held on Thursday evening.

The Bundestag support is import because it was one of the reasons why the start date was postponed from June to autumn.
During the voting on Albania, 395 members of the parliament (MPs) voted in support to start membership talks, 188 were against, and 16 abstained. Despite the vote in favor of opening accession negotiations, the MPs set conditions for Albania. On the other hand, there are EU members like France and the Netherlands that still have reservations about Albania and its results against corruption.

Meanwhile, a majority of 476 MPs voted in favor of North Macedonia, while 122 were against, and 16 abstained.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said that acknowledgement of concrete progress is key as incentive for reforms in the Western Balkans and for EU’s credibility!

Very much welcome today’s vote in #German #Bundestag in favour of opening #accession negotiations with #NorthMacedonia and #Albania in October. Acknowledgement of concrete progress is key as incentive for reforms in the #WesternBalkans and for #EU’s credibility! @cducsubt @spdbt

— Johannes Hahn (@JHahnEU) September 26, 2019

A final decision is expected by the European Council in October.

News Source: BI