European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday branded EU leaders’ decision not to open membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania “a grave historic mistake.”
The leaders struggled late into Thursday night in a tense debate over the two small Balkan nations, but ultimately were unable to reach agreement even on a bland statement offering encouragement and postponing a formal decision.
“I am very disappointed with the result of our debate on enlargement,” Juncker told reporters at the end of a two-day European Council summit. He said the majority of members of the Council were in favor of opening talks with both countries but “a certain number of member states were not ready.”
“This is a grave historic mistake — a grave historic mistake,” Juncker said, speaking in French and using repetition to stress his point.
“If we want to be respected, we have to keep our promises,” he said later in the news conference.
