FRANCE SINKS EU HOPES OF NORTH MACEDONIA, ALBANIA

After days of wrangling at the European Council, France refused to budge from its opposition to giving North Macedonia and Albania a start date for membership talks – leaving EU enlargement policy in a state of confusion.

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EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Friday failed to persuade France to allow a hoped-for start to accession talks for North Macedonia and Albania – and also failed to agree on a written conclusion, which, in the absence of a date for EU talks, would have sent a positive message to Sko pje and Tirana about their further engagement in the process.

“The European Council will revert to the issue of enlargement before the EU-Western Balkans summit in Zagreb in May 2020,” was the only official conclusion regarding the dashed hopes of the two countries.

“We have agreed that we will remain fo cused on the subject and will return to it before the Western Balkan summit at spring next year,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Brussels on Friday, express ing her disappointment.

The deadlock on enlargement drew sharp criticism from other EU leaders. The outgo ing Enlargement Commissioner, Johannes Hahn, tweeted that it was a matter of “ex treme disappointment” and that the citizens of the two Balkan countries were now “right ly disappointed to the bone”.

“The responsibility for this failure is not with the countries [North Macedonia and Al bania] who hoped rightly for a positive decision. They delivered! It was the EU which failed to deliver because of internal issues. This damages the EU’s credibility not only in Western Balkans but beyond,” Hahn add ed in a related tweet.

Austrian Chancellor Brigitte Bierlein on German Chancelor, Angela Merkel and French President, Emmanuel Macron. Photo: AP

Friday called the failure to agree on accession talks “regrettable”.

“I have already exchanged views today with the prime ministers of both states and expressed my disappointment.” Both the Al banian and North Macedonian leaders were “very disappointed,” she said.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte expressed hope that “this disappointment and anguish will not plunge [North Mace donia and Albania] into despair”, and added that Italy would remain close to both countries.

The failure to yield any breakthrough fol lowed a reportedly a tense but ultimately fruitless debate on Thursday night between EU leaders that lasted well past midnight.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, who will soon become the new President of the European Council, said that the debate on enlargement had been “intense” but that the leaders had decided it was impossible to find agreement.

According to an unnamed diplomatic source present at the debate, cited by North Macedonia’s 360 degrees news portal, after it became clear that several compromise solu tions – including one for a parallel decision on a start of accession talks along with a deci sion to back France’s demand for reforming and toughening the accession process – would not pass, a draft was prepared that would have postponed the decision for open ing of accession talks to next spring.

But this was allegedly blocked by several countries seen as strong supporters of North Macedonia, led by Slovenia, Malta and Bul garia, which argued that it was better to have no conclusions than harmful ones that of fered no guarantees about the future.

“A new postponement, without a com mitment that there will not be yet another postponement in April, is additionally harm ing EU credibility and discouraging the candidate countries, the anonymous diplomat was quoted as saying on Friday.

Bulgarian Prime Minister BoykoBoriss ov sounded more upbeat, saying the lack of a written conclusion at least “shows that the vast majority of countries opt ‘for’ the Euro pean perspective of both countries”.

Disappointment was clear in North Macedonia and in Albania. “The least that the European Union owes the region is to be straightforward with us. If there is no more consensus on the European future of the Western Balkans … the citizens deserve to know,” North Macedonia’s Foreign Min ister, Nikola Dimitrov, tweeted on Friday. “While we wait for a renewed consensus, we must continue to defend true European values at home,” he added.

Amid opposition calls for a swift general election after the failure in Brussels, Presi dent StevoPendarovski called for national unity. “Now is not the time for splits and apathy, or for negative feelings toward some countries. We need unity,” Pendarovski said in his public address on Friday, adding that he had called a meet ing of top political leaders on Sunday.Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama told the media that he blamed the “no” from Brus sels on Europe’s internal divisions. He also said he would rather continue working on reforms than accept opposition demands for snap general elections.

“If early elections would have solved the problem between Germany and France, I would have seriously considered that op tion,” he said.

Albania Blames Likely Accession Talks ‘No’ on Divided EU

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said if his country fails to get a start date for EU membership talks this week, it is purely down to internal divisions inside the EU – not because of any failings on the part of Albania.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has tried to counter criticism over the expected decision by the European Council on October 18 not to open EU membership negotiations with Ti rana – claiming that any such decision will be the result of EU internal disagreements. It would not be related to the progress achieved by his country toward fulfilling the criteria, Rama maintained.

Speaking on a Facebook post, Rama told supporters on Tuesday that France was blocking the opening of negotiations be cause President Emanuel Macron was demanding that EU reform must precede further enlargement.

“Emanuel Macron is not ready for a stronger push for the European integration of the Western Balkans without pushing first for the reformation of the Union,” Rama said. “It is very important to understand that this is not an approach against Albania and GJERGJEREBARA AND MAJAZIVANOVIC

North Macedonia, or against the perspec tive of the Western Balkans in general,” Rama stressed.

EU ministers on Tuesday failed to agree on whether to start talks that could lead to Albania and North Macedonia joining the EU, mainly because France opposes any agreement until “the entire accession pro cess is reformed” .

Rama insisted that the expected negative decision had nothing to do with the state of preparedness of Albania or the fulfillment of conditions by his government. “This has nothing to do with what we have done or not done to deserve a yes,” he said.

Acting Foreign Minister Gent Cakaj went further by posting a message in English on Twitter, saying the credibility of the EU was now in danger and warning about a boost for its “strategic rivals” in the Western Bal kans.

“We don’t need a narrow, insular, in ward-looking & disengaged EU but one that is open, fair & a beacon of hope in troubled times,” Cakaj said.

Albania has remained in the waiting room to open negotiations since 2014, when it was granted candidate status for member ship.

Last year, the European Council prom ised to open negotiations with Albania this year on condition it made further progress in the fight against corruption and organised crime.However, the German parliament – while endorsing a positive decision in late September – added a longer list of condi tions for Albania, mostly related to the same issues of crime and corruption.

Meanwhile, North Macedonian Prime Minister ZoranZaev, who is in the same po sition as Rama, said that he did not object to further reforms within the EU but did not see why the enlargement process could not be run in parallel with this.

“Member states must not forget why the EU was formed at all – for common inter ests, but also for Europe to be a leader in democracy and in all other fields,” Zaev told the Southeast Europe Business Develop ment Network event in Vienna.

“We want to be a part of it. Sometimes I think that we, the candidate countries, be lieve more in European values than the EU member states themselves,” he added.

Ahead of the EU meeting, Northern Macedonia President StevoPendarovski warned in an interview with Austria’s Die Presse, that if accession talks with his coun try did not begin soon, the EU would lose all credibility and interest in it will fall.

Recalling that North Macedonia had changed its constitutional name in order to further its European integration, he said: “Citizens have asked us why we needed to change the name of our country. We told them, so that we could become part of the EU. We have fulfilled everything.

“Now citizens are asking why delay is coming again,” the President underlined.

Albanian PM to Sue Kosovo’s Haradinaj for Libel

Albanian PM Edi Rama on Thursday said that he will sue Kosovo’s former PM RamushHaradinaj over claims that he and other accomplices in the region had planned to steal billions of euros.

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Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Thursday night said that he intends to start legal action against former Kosovo prime ministerRamushHaradinaj for defamation over claims that he and other regional leaders had a plan to steal 10 billion euros from a mining complex.

“In the courts of Kosovo, the gentleman should prove the allegation of about 10 billion euros that would have been divided between me, [Kosovo President] HashimThaci and [Serbian President Aleksandar] Vucic,” Rama told the audience of Opinion TV show. Haradinaj, who resigned last July to answer war crimes allegations, claimed he blocked an attempt by Thaci, Rama and Vucic to profit from changing the Serbia-Kosovo border as part of a final solution to the dispute between Serbia and its former province.

On 17 October he told the 360 Grade TV show on Ora News, an Albanian TV station, that he had prevented their attempt to enrich themselves from the once-mighty Trepca mining complex, which straddles Kosovo and Serbia, by blocking their plan to exchange territories.

“With an investment of no more than 140 million euros, Trepca provides a net profit of 500 million euros a year, which over 20 years Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama during an activity. Photo: LSA

means 10 billion – money that should benefit Kosovo and Serbia. I stopped the theft of 10 billion euros, which would have been carried out by the plan to divide Kosovo,” Haradinaj said.

“This was the hidden economic aim of the exchange of territories between Kosovo and Serbia. Thaci, Vucic and Rama were accomplices in this scheme,” he added.

Rama denied the allegation and also complained of several previous spats between him and Haradinaj.

This is not the first time Rama has threatened to use the courts over what he claims are defamatory statements. The Albanian courts are currently handling about 20 cases in which Rama has sued a variety of people, including opposition politicians, journalists and civil society activists.

This week, the Court of Tirana fined JoridaTabaku, an opposition politician, 300,000 leks, equal to 2,500 euros, after finding her guilty of defaming Rama over an economic analysis she published on Facebook. Following the verdict, Tabaku said she would appeal, claiming unfair treatment by the judge.

Albania Police Expose ‘Terrorist Cell’ Targeting Iranian Exiles

Albanian police said they had identified several members of an Iranian-run terrorist cell that was planning attacks on members of an Iranian dissident group living in Albania.

Albanian police have named several Iranian citizens as members of a cell planning terrorist attacks against members of an Iranian opposition movement who live in Albania. Police General Director ArdiVeliu told journalists that they had identified the alleged terrorists from “sources inside the cell”. “A terrorist cell of the foreign operations unit of Iranian QUDS was discovered lately by Albanian intelligence institutions,” Veliu said, as police anti-terrorism chief Gledis Nano stood near him. “The aim of this network was to attack the Iranian opposition [group MEK],” Veliu added.

At the press conference, Veliu named the chief of the operation in Iran as “Peyman”, and AlirezaNaghashzadeh as a forGJERGJ EREBARA | BIRN | TIRANA mer MEK member now working for QUDS in Iran.

He named a third person, AbdolkhaleghMalekZadeh, an Iranian residing in Turkey, engaged not only in terrorism on behalf of Iran but also in organised crime.

Veliu said Zadeh was part of an international drug trafficking network headed by AbdulselamTurgut, a Turkish citizen arrested in Albania in 2011 on behalf of the German authorities – but who escaped after a court in Tirana placed him under house arrest.

“The criminal operatives … were sent to Albania from 2018 to plan attacks against the MEK,” Veliu said.

In December last year, Albania expelled the Iranian ambassador and another diplomat over an alleged terrorist plot whose exact nature has not been made public.

The People’s Mujahedin of Iran, MEK, is a controversial resistance group. Founded in 1965 as a left-wing opposition group to the former Shah, it turned against the Islamic Republic following the 1979 Revolution.

The US listed it as a terrorist organisation in 1997 but removed it from its black list in 2012 after it renounced violence. The Obama administration then assisted the relocation of its members to Albania. Some members of the group live in an extended compound in central Albania while others live around the capital, Tirana, or have emigrated.

Most of them are now elderly and some are sick. The group appears to live a quiet life in Albania, despite which the Iranian government still considers them active enemies.

Proposed Euro Parliament Resolution Advocates Balkan Enlargement

The Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament submitted a resolution criticising French President Emmanuel Macron for rejecting the start of EU accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia.

MEPs from the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament on Wednesday submitted a motion for a resolution condemning France for vetoing the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia during the European Council summit last week. Although both North Macedonia and Albania received support for their bid to start negotiations from a number of countries prior to the European Council meeting, at the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron blocked the process, saying there is a need for EU reforms as a priority before any further enlargement. The Greens’ proposed resolution, which needs to pass a vote on Thursday at the European Parliament’s plenary session following a debate on Wednesday, expresses its regret at the European Council’s decision and stresses that “by failing to deliver on its promises and commitments to both countries, the EU risks losing credibility” in the Western Balkans region. It says that the enlargement process “needs to be driven by objective criteria, and not by… internal politics or bilateral controversies” in EU member states. The proposed resolution also calls on the European Council to “assume its responsibility and find a concrete compromise” at its next meeting in December. The European Council stated last week that it has suggested revisiting the subject of enlargement no sooner than May 2020 at the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Zagreb. With European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s new enlargement strategy not expected before March 2020, and with France’s presidential elections on the horizon in three years, experts don’t believe that Albania and North Macedonia can realistically open their first chapters in the membership negotiation process sooner than 2022. If passed, the Greens/EFA resolution could be seen a signal to both countries, but also the rest of the EU hopefuls in the Western Balkans that the bloc’s enlargement process is not completely dead. The European Commission recommended the opening of negotiations with Albania in 2016, while North Macedonia had the same endorsement in 2009. Since then, North Macedonia has resolved the last stumbling block on its European path by ending its long-running dispute with Greece with the signing of the Prespa agreement in 2018, and officially changing its name. The Greens/EFA resolution is said to be supported by a majority of political groups in the European Parliament, including Renew Europe, a liberal alliance that includes Macron’s La Republique En Marche. ALEKSANDAR BREZAR | BIRN | BRUSSELS