North Macedonia
Albania
Has Enlargement slipped off the radar?
The European Council and Euro Summit meetings of December 10-11 concluded without reference to the subject of EU Enlargement since the earlier General Affairs...
Albania
The Bulgarian hammer comes down
Firmly refusing to approve the negotiating framework for the “Intergovernmental Conference” required to launch North Macedonia’s EU accession process, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva...
Analysis
Bulgaria and North Macedonia continue tussle over language
While EU Enlargement was supposed to be the primary focus in the region for the final months of 2020, a long-simmering controversy with Bulgaria...
Albania
Varhelyi refocuses on enlargement for Southeast Europe
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi visited North Macedonia and Albania on October 6-7, meeting leaders in both countries as well as addressing parliaments....
Energy
Pompeo's Greece visit underlines Turkey’s isolation
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Greece on September 28-30 with the objective of making it clear to Turkey that the Trump Administration...
Albania
Short Greece vacation for two Balkan leaders
Taking the opportunity to visit Athens in conference speaker mode, the leaders of Albania and North Macedonia paid stealthy visits to Athens September 15-16...
Albania
North Macedonia’s coalition government forms up, as directed
Once again, to the delight of North Macedonia’s Western supporters, Skopje has a new coalition government that looks very much like last year’s pre-election...
Albania
North Macedonia’s elections unfold, marginally, as directed
To the delight of North Macedonia’s western supporters, the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) landed a razor-thin electoral majority on July 15 in...
Analysis
North Macedonia’s (unaffordable) NATO dream takes shape
North Macedonia’s flag is flying over NATO Headquarters today in Brussels as the alliance’s 30th member after the final accession formalities were completed on...
Albania
In desperate times, EU approves new Balkan Enlargement steps
Moving on a trajectory that senior EU leaders publicly outlined at the Munich Security Conference in mid-February, the EU’s General Affairs Council (GAC) agreed...
Albania
Amidst crises, Greece finds time for renewed Balkan diplomacy
Despite the multiple crises Greece is currently facing – a continuing refugee deluge and massive public reaction on some islands, the spreading coronavirus threat,...
Analysis
North Macedonia takes a small step forward and one backwards this week
Since being installed in early January in preparation for the country’s April 6 elections, Caretaker Government Labour Minister Rashela Mizrahi, from the ultranationalist VMRO-DPMNE...
Albania
France scores victory on Enlargement rules
The EU Commission released new proposed rules on February 5 which substantially modify the current Enlargement process but also allow EU member states to...
Albania
Merkel says Albania, North Macedonia should get green light for EU accession talks
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would push for a start to EU accession talks for Albania and North Macedonia.
"Above all, we want to...
Archive
US diplomatic engagement helps reopen Kosovo-Serbia flights
Representatives of Serbia, Kosovo, the US, and Lufthansa Group signed a milestone agreement on January 20 to establish an air link between Serbia and...
Archive
Putin, Erdogan launch TurkStream to Turkey, Southern Europe
Russia and Turkey launched the TurkStream gas pipeline on 8 January in a ceremony attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip...
Albania
Greece’s Balkan diplomacy currently a sideshow
While keeping up the appearances of an active diplomatic campaign in Southeast Europe, the net impact of Athens’ recent initiatives will yield next to...
Albania
Greece champions EU Enlargement in the Western Balkans
As a consequence of French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision in October to call for a temporary hold on EU accession discussions for Albania and...
Albania
Zaev-Mitsotakis Thessaloniki meeting explores EU Enlargement delays
The prime ministers of Greece and North Macedonia met on the sidelines of the Thessaloniki 2019 Summit on November 14. This was their second...
Albania
Brussels casts Zaev a thin lifeline
Brussels cast a thin Italian-flavoured political lifeline to North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev over the last ten days, something sorely needed after Zaev...
Archive
Zaev fumbles after EU Enlargement let-down
North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev fumbled badly this week when discussing the relationship between his country’s now-frozen EU accession bid and the standing...
Albania
Enlargement is not Eurovision, Zoran
Enlargement boosters across Europe were stunned by the third failure of the European Council to announce a decision on 18 October on a date...
Albania
France unyielding on EU Enlargement, elections triggered in North Macedonia
The scenario that emerged late last week with multiple reports that France would oppose immediate decisions on EU Enlargement has come to pass.
EU European...
Archive
Secretary of State Pompeo begins short Balkan swing
Despite the turmoil in Washington which has practically everything except his current European trip in focus, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo departed Italy on 4...
Archive
Zaev-Mitsotakis New York meeting – breaking the ice
The prime ministers of Greece and North Macedonia held their first face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)...
Albania
Tusk makes final push in support of Western Balkans enlargement
Outgoing European Council President Donald Tusk devoted his time on 16 September to make a final push in support of the EU accession aspirations...
Analysis
The mother of all hearings
As soon as the new European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, revealed on 10 September that Hungary’s former Minister of Justice Laszlo Trocsanyi...
Archive
Mitsotakis government’s foreign policy inevitably points to Washington
In view of ongoing tension between Turkey, the EU and Washington, it was completely reasonable for the new Greek government of Prime Minister Kyriakos...
Analysis
The Name Dispute after the July 7 Greek elections
The June 2018 Prespes Agreement, which settled the so-called Name Dispute with newly-renamed North Macedonia, Greece’s northern neighbor, was an important but not the...
Albania
As enlargement discussions freeze, aspirants twist in the wind
Discussions in Luxembourg regarding EU enlargement in the Western Balkans made little headway this past week, despite the threat from North Macedonian Prime Minister...
Archive
Zaev hints at early elections
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev of North Macedonia hinted on 5 June, and again the next day, that he would consider calling early elections if...
Archive
North Macedonia’s presidential election results calm West’s worries
North Macedonia’s presidential runoff election on 5 May produced results guaranteed to calm fraying nerves in Athens, Washington, Brussels, Paris, and Berlin as the...
Analysis
Name Dispute chills North Macedonia’s presidential election
What would normally be an inconsequential election for the largely ceremonial post of president in North Macedonia has crystallised into an unofficial referendum on...
Albania
Tsipras visits Skopje hoping to cement his Prespes accomplishments
Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visited North Macedonia’s capital Skopje on 2 April, his second visit to the country since signing the Prespes Agreement. ...
Analysis
Tsipras heads to Skopje to salvage his Prespes gambit
Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is set to deliver on his promised trip to North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, on 2 April, which was announced...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Important issues progressing while public attention fades
While the Name Dispute between Greece and the newly-renamed Republic of North Macedonia has fallen out of the headlines, several notable developments occurred in...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Coming to terms
The Name Dispute has again fallen from the headlines in Northern Macedonia and Greece, as the public focus in Skopje is on April’s Presidential...
Albania
Delphi Economic Forum: Intense focus on Southeastern Europe
DELPHI, Greece - Now in its fourth year, the 2019 Delphi Economic Forum (DEF) has grown into a true Davos-like venue, with groups from...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Nationality tussles highlight Prespes Agreement flaws
If there is an area where the June 2018 Prespes Agreement’s legions of detractors and a reasonable number of its mainstream but unenthusiastic supporters...
Analysis
Name Dispute: A time for kudos, awards and arrests
Now that the ratification procedures for June’s Prespes Agreement between Greece and newly-renamed North Macedonia are complete, the focus has shifted to a wide-ranging...
Analysis
Name Dispute: North Macedonia’s name change takes hold
Following Greece’s ratification of the NATO Accession Protocol for North Macedonia February 8, over the past week, Europe witnessed a series of implementation steps...
Archive
Athens clears path for North Macedonia’s NATO admission
NATO’s 29 members and the soon-to-be-renamed Republic of North Macedonia signed the country’s NATO Accession Protocol in Brussels on February 6. Since the Name...
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