Albania and North Macedonia on Tuesday officially opened negotiations for membership in the European Union.

At the EU headquarters in Brussels, on July 19, the first intergovernmental conference was held, in which North Macedonia officially opened negotiations.

After that, a conference was held with Albania, which has been in the same block as Skopje, as far as the journey towards the EU is concerned.

During the first intergovernmental conference with the EU, the prime minister of Albania, Edi Rama, said that the last few years have been a real saga, with work, evaluations, expectations, broken promises and painful restarts.

But, he said that Europe enables the Western Balkans to be a country of peace and prosperity.

“Europe, with its values, principles and standards, is what makes possible another Balkan, a Balkan of peace, prosperity and security. An open Balkan of the four freedoms of the EU as well. Starting today, membership talks do not make our dream a reality, but make reality a better place to pursue the dream. We know that what we have achieved so far is only the end of the beginning”, said Rama.

The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that the opening of talks with Albania is a great achievement for both Tirana and Brussels.

“The Western Balkans is extremely important for the EU and this is a moment in which this importance is being shown,” he said.

Meanwhile, at the end of the first conference between the EU and North Macedonia, the Macedonian Prime Minister, Dimitar Kovacevski, said that a new chapter in Macedonian history is opening.

“This is a historic, long-awaited and certainly deserved day. For this day, we made difficult decisions that required courage and wisdom. We made the final decision and preserved the Macedonian identity, language and culture. We have decided to be determined, brave, wise and determined not to think about ourselves, but about the future generations”, Kovacevski said.