The Netherlands is not against the EU enlargement, but the countries simply need to be ready for negotiations, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mr Mark Rutte, told Pobjeda daily.
On the sidelines of the NATO Summit held last week in London, Mr Rutte assessed that Albania still hasn’t been ready to start negotiations with Brussels, but North Macedonia, on the other hand, is pretty close to it.
He said: “We don’t think Albania is ready to start negotiation talks right now, but North Macedonia is somewhat closer to this goal.”
The Dutch Prime Minister added that some EU member states did not want to split these two countries when it comes to the negotiation process.
On the 2025 deadline for EU enlargement in the Western Balkans, Mr Rutte said that no one wants to set a specific deadline for the EU accession as it’s not the major goal.
“I have no idea. And it’s not our major goal. We have nothing against the EU enlargement, but we need to comply with the rules and everything must be fair and strict. This has always been our position.”
