EU kickstarts membership talks for North Macedonia

According to the news wire service agency Agence France Presse (AFP) on Monday, EU member states agreed to open accession talks with North Macedonia and, conditionally, with Albania.

Citing several diplomatic sources, AFP reports that the agreement worked out by representatives of EU countries in Brussels must be ratified at the Foreign Ministries, who are meeting via video conferencing on Tuesday.

AFP said the proposal will be submitted to country leaders by the end of the week and they in turn will request the EU to prepare the framework of negotiations, to be approved at a future EU summit, where a date for the start of talks will also be set.