“I think you should manage [o processo] Responsibly and honestly. The frustration of many Western Balkan countries is just right [porque] When a country, after 20 years, still does not meet the criteria for accession, it is not only the fault of the country, it is also the failure of European institutions that were not able to organize themselves to support that country in order to meet the criteria”, declared the head of government, speaking to journalists The Portuguese in Brussels, on the sidelines of the European Summit in Brussels.
Speaking after EU leaders agreed to assign candidate status to Ukraine, Antonio Costa insisted that “when there are countries that already meet all criteria and are blocked in the progress of negotiations because their negotiation process is linked to another negotiation process that is obscured for reasons of bilateral disputes between countries, in On the other hand, this frustration is there.”
“I especially understand the way the Prime Minister of Albania expressed his frustration with the way his operation was obstructed, as an indirect effect of the North Macedonia operation,” he admitted, after sarcastic criticism from the Albanian head of government.
“What the EU should learn is to learn from the lessons of its mistakes, and once again, I insist that all those who today agreed to the candidate country status of Ukraine and Moldova take this bitter lesson into account.” Antonio Costa warned.
The Portuguese Prime Minister therefore demanded that “new problems coming” be avoided in the new negotiations, “giving the Union, with the institutional structure and budget, to be able to accommodate this now expected enlargement”.
Today, Ukraine and Moldova joined a large group of EU candidate countries, some of which have long been in the “waiting line” to enter the European bloc, without any progress in recent years.
After the “green light” given today by 27 EU Heads of State and Government to grant candidate country status to Kyiv and Chisinau, as recommended by the European Commission, Ukraine and Moldova join Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey as candidates, and “bypass” Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, are still ‘potential candidates’, while Georgia has only been given a ‘European perspective’.
This morning, arriving for a meeting of EU and Western Balkan leaders that preceded the European Council, Albania’s prime minister advised Ukraine to “don’t be fooled” by promises of accession, remembering precisely the painful journey the EU has taken. Your country and others in the region.
“It is a good thing to be awarded the status [de país candidato à UE] For Ukraine, but I hope that the Ukrainian people will not be filled with illusions. “North Macedonia is a candidate for 17 years, if I don’t lose count, and Albania for eight years, welcome to Ukraine,” said Edi Rama in a sarcastic tone.
Edi Rama was not lost in the calculations, since the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia received candidate country status in 2005, and after 17 years he is still waiting for the official start of negotiations, even after his name has already been changed to Macedonia from the North, to resolve the dispute with Greece. They were of little use, as in recent years Bulgaria prevented the official opening of the talks, due to language differences.
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