The European Union should fulfill the promises made to the Western Balkan countries, says the Minister of State for Europe at the German Foreign Ministry, Michael Roth, after yesterday’s recommendation by the European Commission that Macedonia and Albania have met the conditions and should immediately start membership negotiations with the Union.
“There has been visible progress in Macedonia and Albania. It is now up to the EU to deliver. We should stand by our word and fulfill our promises”, Roth writes in a column for the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”.
Despite Roth’s attitude, the German newspaper recalls a statement made by a member of the ruling CDU Gunther Krichbaum, that the decision to start negotiations before October will be hard, because the recommendation must go to the German Bundestag and the parliaments of the 28 EU member states, and this, he says, takes time.
On the other hand, MEP Elmar Brok, meanwhile, yesterday told MIA that negotiations for EU membership with Macedonia should begin without delay. However, Brock acknowledged that the final decision by the member states of the Union could be postponed for a month or two.
