European Union: EP yet again postpones vote on Macedonia resolution

The European Parliament (EP) has said it won’t vote on a Macedonia resolution with respect to the 2016 European Commission progress report about the country, MIA reports Monday from Strasbourg.

The EP has said the resolution on Macedonia will not be put up for voting this week after being already postponed several times. The resolutions on Serbia, Kosovo and Albania – other EU membership hopefuls – aren’t going to be voted as well. They were supposed to be voted by MEPs in March.

The political state of play in each of the Balkan countries is citied as a reason for delaying the resolutions to be passed.

Namely, Macedonia is without a government for six months after its December elections, which has pushed the country into a deeper crisis.

Last week, Kosovo saw its government collapsing and fresh early polls being scheduled on June 11.

In Albania, which has been gripped by a political crisis, it is likely that its regular elections slated for June 18 would be held without the opposition.

In February, the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted the Macedonia resolution, which put forward a conditioned recommendation for the opening of accession talks between the EU and Macedonia.

The resolution is not legally binding as it has only an advisory role. For the first time in ten years, these documents will not be presented annually. Thus, the next resolution on Macedonia is expected to be released in 2019.