36879 - The European delay of Skopie
N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Vicky Baklessi
Skopie haven’t made one step towards their accession process. The European Union requires the opening and the closing of 35 chapters for the accession of a candidate country. If we examine the progress with the other countries which belonged to Yugoslavia, we can better understand who is in a hurry for negotiations. Slovenia was integrated in 2004 and Croatia in 2013. Montenegro has opened 30 chapters and has closed 3, Serbia has opened 12 and has closed 2. Bosnia is at the same level with Skopie and hasn’t opened any chapter. And for another country, the same is valid for Albania. This means that if each Greek knew about this objective issue, they would understand that it is Skopje who is under pressure and not of course Greece. Skopje is trying to find an opening in order to finally start their accession process, but because their governments remain intransigent for voting purposes, they haven’t achieved any outcome. So we realize that it is they who need a new result and not Greece which is already a state member of the European Union and works within the European acquis.